Measurement of ion acceleration in the magnetic nozzle of an ecr plasma thruster

J. Jarrige (1) , P.Q. Elias (1) , D. Packan (1)

1 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Palaiseau]

The Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma thruster operated with xenon is experimentally studied using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy. The ion velocity distributions determined from Doppler shift show the axial acceleration of singly charged xenon ions in the magnetic nozzle over several centimeters. LIF results are compared to electrostatic probes measurements.

Mots clés: LASER INDUCED FLUORESCENCE; ION VELOCITY; PLASMA THRUSTER; MAGNETIC NOZZLE

Domaines: Physique de l'espace [physics.space-ph]

J. Jarrige, P.Q. Elias, D. Packan. Measurement of ion acceleration in the magnetic nozzle of an ecr plasma thruster. Space Propulsion 2014, May 2014, COLOGNE, Germany. ⟨hal-01070574⟩