Effect of a plume reduction in segmented electrode Hall thruster

A segmented electrode, which is placed at the thruster exit, is shown to affect thruster operation in several ways, whether the electrode produce low emission current or no emission current, although there appear to be advantages to the more emissive segmented electrode. Measured by plume divergence, the performance of Hall thruster operation, even with only one power supply, can approach or surpass that of non segmented operation over a range of parameter regimes, including the low gas rate regime. This allows the flexibility in operation of segmented electrode thrusters in variable thrust regimes