The allure of electrodeless, rf based thrusters is fairly obvious in the abstract: long life due to no electrode sputtering, multi-propellant operation (in some cases), higher plasma density. Examples include capacitive, inductive, and wave-based thrusters. Generally, the fundamental application of these concepts is an rf heated plasma, expanded through a divergent magnetic nozzle. When a wave is proposed as the plasma generation mechanism, certain physical parameters are proscribed by the dispersion relation, which serves to relate plasma parameters to the thruster design. Some considerations of these impacts on plasma sources can be examined in basic models of the wave dispersion, absorption, and coupling. The conservation laws in these sources provide additional constraints. The interaction of these phenomena will be discussed from a modeling and experimental perspective for a helicon source in terms of the scaling of density with power, geometry, and coupling, with implications for wave-based thrusters.

Co-sponsored by: MIPSE and SEM NPSS

Speaker(s): Dr. James Gilland,

Bldg: 1311 EECS, 1301 Beal Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/286441