Experimental Investigation of High Frequency Plasma Oscillations Within Hall Thrusters
نویسنده
چکیده
[Abstract] An experimental setup has been developed to measure high frequency plasma oscillations within the acceleration channel of a laboratory Hall thruster. The plasma oscillations are measured with three Langmuir probes separated by small axial and azimuthal offsets. This configuration permits the oscillations to be correlated with direction and wave number. This work is motivated by the anomalous electron transport phenomena, as plasma instabilities may play a crucial role in this transport process. Preliminary data has been gathered downstream of the exit plane of the thruster and suggests high frequency oscillations in the 1 to 10MHz range predominately in the axial direction. Work is currently underway to measure the high frequency oscillations within the acceleration channel at various axial locations.
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