Open AccessExperimental study of vacuum backpressure on the discharge characteristics of a Hall thruster
Author(s) -
E Peng,
Ping Duan,
Liqiu Wei,
Bai De-Yu,
Binhao Jiang,
Xu Dian-Guo
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.59.8676
Subject(s) - ionization , propellant , atomic physics , plasma , materials science , ion , electron , hall effect , ionic bonding , thermal ionization , ion source , electron ionization , physics , electrical resistivity and conductivity , chemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
It is found that the vacuum backpressure affects the flow of background gas into a Hall thruster channel. The flow of background gas can affect the ionization of propellants and the conductivity of electrons, and thereby affect the physical process and discharge characteristic of Hall thrusters. In order to investigate these effects, the atomic and the ionic emission spectra in the discharge channel and the ions energy distribution are measured under different vacuum backpressures. The experimental results indicate that the increase of vacuum backpressure can reduce the electron temperature and ionization efficiency of propellants and a new ionization region appears near exit plane in the channel; and moreover, it is found that the new ionization region penetrates into the channel more deeply under the higher vacuum backpressure case.