Influences of coupling magnetic field of 2 cm electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster on plume neutralization

2 cm ECRIT联结磁场对羽流中和的影响

¹ School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
² Vacuum Technology and Physics Laboratory, Lanzhou Institute of Physics for Space Technology, Lanzhou 730000, China

Received: 13 October 2022

Abstract

An electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster (ECRIT) has advantages of long service life and simple structure. The external coupling magnetic field of the ECRIT is one of factors that influences the plume neutralization process and coupling voltage of the neutralizer. The coupling magnetic field varies with the installation direction of the ion source and neutralizer as well as the direction of the internal magnetic pole. Calculating the distribution law of the coupling magnetic field and experimentally studying the influence of the coupling magnetic field on plume neutralization are very important. This paper focuses on two power rates and two flow rates of the ion source and conducts experiments on neutralization within the acceleration voltage range of 350 to 1 450 V to study the influence of changes in the direction and position of the ion source and the influence of the neutralizer′s magnetic pole on the ion beam extraction and maximum coupling voltage. The results indicate that the ion beam extraction is not influenced by the direction of the magnetic pole and the installation direction of the ion source and neutralizer. When the ion source is installed relatively perpendicular to the neutralizer, its coupling voltage is reduced. At the same time, changing the direction of the magnetic pole of the neutralizer into the opposite of the direction of the magnetic pole of the ion source also reduces the coupling voltage of the neutralizer. When the ion source is installed perpendicular to the magnetic pole of the neutralizer in the opposite direction, the coupling voltage is the lowest.

摘要

电子回旋共振离子推力器(electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster, ECRIT)外部联结磁场是影响羽流中和过程以及中和器耦合电压的因素之一。联结磁场随离子源和中和器安装方位及其内部磁极方向的不同而不同，计算联结磁场分布规律、实验研究磁场对羽流中和的影响是非常重要的工作。针对离子源的2个功率和2个流量，加速电压350~1 450 V内，开展中和实验，研究离子源与中和器磁极方向和位置关系的变化对离子束流引出和最高耦合电压大小的影响规律。结果表明，离子束流引出不受磁极方向和离子源与中和器安装方位的影响。离子源与中和器相对垂直安装时能降低中和器耦合电压，同时通过改变中和器磁极方向使其与离子源磁极方向相反也能降低中和器耦合电压。当离子源与中和器磁极方向相反且垂直安装时，中和器耦合电压最低。