Bulletin of the American Physical Society
76th Annual Gaseous Electronics Conference
Volume 68, Number 9
Monday–Friday, October 9–13, 2023; Michigan League, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Session IT4: Poster Session I; Exhibition & Coffee (4:00pm-6:00pm)
4:00 PM,
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Room: Michigan League, Ballroom
Abstract: IT4.00042 : Non-intrusive measurements of plasma impedance in an electron-cyclotron resonance thruster*
Presenter:
Renaud Ferrand
(ONERA)
Authors:
Renaud Ferrand
(ONERA)
Victor Désangles
(ONERA)
Paul-Quentin Elias
(ONERA)
Recent studies have proven the viability of electrodeless, micro-wave (µW) powered plasma thrusters as an alternative to grid and Hall thrusters. Among these, electron-cyclotron resonance thrusters (ECRT) combine a good efficiency and a quite simple design, making them good candidates for the next generation of electric thrusters. A key point in improving the total efficiency of these devices is to maximize the coupling efficiency of µW by designing an impedance matching circuit. Using ECRA, the ECRT developed at ONERA, we propose to estimate both the transmission parameters of the thruster and the plasma impedance. To do so, we have designed a non-intrusive method to measure the µW reflection coefficient using a vector network analyzer and created a calibration kit specifically suited for use with ECRA that allows us to determine its scattering matrix. Thanks to these, we have measured the plasma impedance for a variety of thruster set points, and compared these measurements to classical wave propagation models. These results open the way to a better understanding of plasma behavior in ECRTs and, with suitable plasma models, may allow one to estimate plasma parameters through non-intrusive measurements.
*RF acknowledges financial support from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) with grant number 5100020390.
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