Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 452
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11714-3

Regular Article

Study on ion energy distribution in low-frequency oscillation time scale of Hall thrusters

¹ Plasma Propulsion Lab, Institute of Advanced Power, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001, Harbin, China
² Electric Drive & Propulsion Technology Lab, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150001, Harbin, China

^* e-mail: dingyongjie@hit.edu.cn

Received: 23 March 2017
Accepted: 12 September 2017
Published online: 3 November 2017

Abstract

This paper reports on the dynamic characteristics of the distribution of ion energy during Hall thruster discharge in the low-frequency oscillation time scale through experimental studies, and a statistical analysis of the time-varying peak and width of ion energy and the ratio of high-energy ions during the low-frequency oscillation. The results show that the ion energy distribution exhibits a periodic change during the low-frequency oscillation. Moreover, the variation in the ion energy peak is opposite to that of the discharge current, and the variations in width of the ion energy distribution and the ratio of high-energy ions are consistent with that of the discharge current. The variation characteristics of the ion density and discharge potential were simulated by one-dimensional hybrid-direct kinetic simulations; the simulation results and analysis indicate that the periodic change in the distribution of ion energy during the low-frequency oscillation depends on the relationship between the ionization source term and discharge potential distribution during ionization in the discharge channel.