Related papers: Rotating spoke instabilities in a wall-less Hall t…
Long wavelength plasma non-uniformities rotating in the azimuthal direction ("rotating spokes") have been observed in a number of experiments on Hall thrusters or magnetron discharges. We use a two-dimensional (2D), axial-azimuthal…
Electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations of a Penning discharge are performed in order to investigate azimuthally asymmetric, spoke-like structures previously observed in experiments. Two-dimensional simulations show that for…
Low-frequency rotating spokes are obtained in a cross-field discharge plasma using two-dimensional numerical simulations. A particle-fluid hybrid model is used to model the plasma flow in a configuration similar to a Hall thruster. It has…
A rotating plasma spoke is shown to develop in two-dimensional full-sized kinetic simulations of a Penning discharge cross-section. Electron cross-field transport within the discharge is highly anomalous and correlates strongly with the…
A new 3 dimensional Particle-in-Cell code was applied to simulate the operation of a 100 W CHT thruster. In the simulation a spoke moving with a velocity of about 0.8 cm/\mu s was observed. The initial position of the spoke was found to be…
A plasma rotating spoke in a crossed field discharge is studied using 2D radial-azimuthal fully kinetic Particle-In-Cell Monte Carlo Collision (PIC/MCC) simulations. The kinetic model reveals the whole perturbation spectrum of the gradient…
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in the (radial-azimuthal) plane perpendicular to the axial direction of a cylindrical ExB Penning discharge are presented. The low-pressure discharge is self-consistently supported by plasma…
Cross-field electron transport in Hall thrusters is widely attributed to high-frequency $E\times B$ instabilities, yet its net spatial pathway remains poorly resolved. Here we perform instability-resolving three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
The spoke instability in an $E\times B$ Penning discharge is shown to be strongly affected by the boundary that is perpendicular to $B$ field lines. The instability is the strongest when bounded by dielectric walls. With a conducting wall,…
Rotating spokes commonly occur in partially magnetized plasmas devices. In this paper, the driving mechanism behind the formation of an m=1 rotating spoke mode in a magnetically enhanced hollow cathode arc discharge is investigated by means…
Previous experimental studies have found that the neutral gas rotational flow in the opposite direction of electron Hall drift can lead to better experimental results comparing to the same direction. In Hall thrusters, the core factor…
Low-frequency axial oscillations (5-50 kHz) stand out as a pervasive feature observed in many types of Hall thrusters. While it is widely recognized that the ionization effects play the central role in this mode, as manifested via the large…
Along with crossed electric and magnetic fields in a Hall thruster, a radial component of electric field is generated that takes ions toward the walls, which causes sputtering and produces dust contamination in the thruster plasma.…
Magnetic nozzles are a key component of electrodeless plasma thrusters, acting as their main acceleration stage. Non-stationary phenomena common to the entire range of $E \times B$ devices, such as oscillations and instabilities, are likely…
In the ionization region above circular planar magnetrons well defined regions of high emissivity are observed, when the discharge is driven in the HiPIMS regime. Once their mode is stabilized, these structures rotate in the E x B direction…
Azimuthal spoke-like modes commonly occur in ExB discharges. The natural occurrence of the spoke mode is correlated with changes of plasma parameters. Here, instead of allowing these changes to occur naturally, we report a technique for…
Traditional expressions and definitions describing performance of plasma thrusters, including the thrust, specific impulse, and the thruster efficiency, assume a steady state plasma flow with a constant flow velocity. However, it is very…
High-power magnetically shielded Hall thrusters have recently emerged to meet the needs of the next-generation space missions. Even though a few such thrusters are currently undergoing their late-stage development campaigns, many unanswered…
A method of determining boundary conditions for quasi 1-D modeling of steady-state operation of a Hall Thruster with ceramic channel is presented. For a given mass flow rate and magnetic field profile the imposed condition of a smooth sonic…
Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are employed to investigate electron transport characteristics in Hall thrusters, with particular focus on how magnetic field configuration affects the electron transport due to electron drift…