Characteristics of a Surface Contact Hall Current Accelerator

An electric propulsion device is described which utilizes surface contact ion generation followed by space-charge-neutralized, electrostatic ion acceleration in an annular, low-density, Hall current accelerator. Performance analyses and design criteria are presented to illustrate the potentialities of the device for use as an efficient, high-thrust-density engine in the intermediate specific impulse regime. Preliminary experimental data obtained with a laboratory model are presented.