ELECTRON CYCLOTRON RESONANCE PLASMA ACCELERATOR.
Abstract
Results are presented for a continuously operating electron cyclotron resonance plasma accelerator at a frequency of 2.45 kMc and absorbed power levels of up to 0.5 kilowatt. Langmuir probe measurements indicate that a space charge field set up by energetic electrons (electron temperature approximately 15 electron-volts) accelerates plasma ions to energies of from 35 to 150 electron-volts. Langmuir probe plasma potential measurements were made adjacent to the analyzer and the effects of ion acceleration in the plasma beam-analyzer sheath were subtracted from the ion energy measurements. The final ion energy shows a linear relationship to the electron temperature in agreement with the theory. At a power of 0.5 kilowatt, due apparently to strong excitation in the magnetic bottle region, electrons from this region are connected by the magnetic field lines to the waveguide walls and losses for bottle configurations of the magnetic field were found to be high (efficiency of 4 percent). Constant-magnetic-field experiments indicate that efficiencies with magnetic bottle field should be at least as high as 30 percent if the accelerator is designed to exclude all field-line connections between wall and plasma. The specific impulse, efficiency, and thrust attainable from a thruster based on electron cyclotron resonance are in the useful l range for space propulsion applications, especially in orbit corrective missions. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 31, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0612175
Entities
People
- H. Hendel
- T. Faith