Modelling a thrust imparted by a highly ionized magnetic nozzle rf plasma thruster

Abstract

Influence of the local-ionization-induced neutral depletion on the thrust imparted by the magnetic nozzle plasma thruster is discussed by simply considering reduction of the neutral density due to the ionization in the thruster model combining the global source model and the one-dimensional magnetic nozzle model. When increasing the rf power, it is shown that the increase rate of the plasma density is reduced, while the electron temperature continues to increase due to a decrease in the neutral density. Since the major components of the thrust are originated from the electron pressures in the source and in the magnetic nozzle, the increase in the electron temperature contributes to the increase in the thrust in addition to the gradual density increase by the rf power. The model qualitatively predicts the reduction of the thruster efficiency by the neutral depletion for the high-power condition, compared with the constant neutral density model.