Related papers: A rational design method for the Nagoya type-III a…
This research work is part of a PhD project aiming to design a new helicon plasma thruster for cargo space missions, within a collaboration between the School of Aerospace Engineering of La Sapienza University and the ENEA Frascati research…
Large volume helicon plasma sources are of particular interest for large scale semiconductor processing, high power plasma propulsion and recently plasma-material interaction under fusion conditions. This work is devoted to studying the…
A compact helicon plasma thruster that features a cusp in its internal magnetic field is analyzed with experiments and simulations. A compensated Langmuir probe and a Faraday cup are used in the former, while a hybrid PIC/fluid transport…
A birdcage resonant helicon antenna is designed, mounted and tested in the toroidal device TORPEX. The birdcage resonant antenna is an alternative to the usual Boswell or half-helical antenna designs commonly used for $\sim$ 10 cm diameter…
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) attracts great attention from aspects of fundamental research and practical applications, and efficient power coupling is highly desirable for both of them. The present study explores a novel strategy for…
Plasma wakefield accelerators (PWA), such as AWAKE, require homogenous high-density plasmas. The Madison AWAKE Prototype (MAP) has been built to create a uniform argon plasma in the $10^{20}\,\mathrm{m^{-3}}$ density range using helicon…
HELicon Experiment for Negative ion source (HELEN-I) with single driver is developed with a focus on the production of negative hydrogen ions. In the Helicon wave heated plasmas, very high plasma densities ($\sim10^{19} m^{-3}$) can be…
The helicon antenna is a well-known device in the field of electric propulsion. Here we investigate the vector potential produced in vacuum by such an antenna with typical size parameters. Both a static and a dynamic analysis are performed.…
Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft. To extend such missions lifetime, an efficient propulsion system is required. One solution is…
The definition of magnetic shuttle is introduced to describe the magnetic space enclosed by two tandem magnetic mirrors with the same field direction and high mirror ratio. Helicon plasma immersed in such a magnetic shuttle which can…
Plasma wakefield accelerators have the potential to revolutionize particle physics by providing lepton collision energies orders of magnitude beyond current technology. Crucially, these accelerators require a high-density, highly…
Electric propulsion is now a sucessfull method for primary propulsion of deep space long duration missions and for geosyncronous satellite attitude control. Closed Drift Plasma Thruster, so called Hall Thruster or SPT (stationary plasma…
Active control of scrape off layer density is emerging as a critical requirement for improving ion cyclotron resonance heating and enabling high performance steady state operation in future magnetic confinement fusion devices. Helicon wave…
This paper introduces a new methodology for designing and optimizing the performance of hydraulic Cross-Flow turbines for a wide range of operating conditions. The methodology is based on a one-step approach for the system-level design…
The Robinson Research Institute is developing a type of electric propulsion for spacecraft called an applied-field magneto-plasma-dynamic (AF-MPD) thruster. The applied field module of the thruster features a cryocooler-cooled…
Radio-frequency discharges are performed in low magnetic fields (0-10 mT) using three types of helicon-wave exciting antennas with the azimuthal mode number of $|m|$ = 1. The most pronounced peak of plasma density is generated in the case…
Helicon plasmas are being considered as plasma sources for wakefield accelerators, subject to strict density requirements. We present various mechanisms to increase axial density homogeneity in a helicon plasma for implementation in such an…
Supersonic gas jets produced by converging-diverging (C-D) nozzles are commonly used as targets for laser-plasma acceleration (LPA) experiments. A major point of interest for these targets is the gas density at the region of interaction…
Non-destructive X-ray imaging of thruster parts and assemblies down to the scale of several micrometers is a key technology for electric propulsion research and engineering. It allows for thorough product assurance, rapid state acquisition…
The ionization efficiency of helicon plasma discharge is explored by changing the low axial magnetic field gradients near the helicon antenna. The highest plasma density is found for a most possible diverging field near the antenna by…