| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Neutral atom number density was measured in high vacuum using the Rayleigh scattering technique, in order to elucidate facility effects on electric propulsion devices. Nitrogen molecular number density was measured to show the validity of the Rayleigh scattering technique. Xenon neutral number density was measured downstream of a miniature Hall thruster. The number density of xenon atoms was estimated to be (4±1.5)×10^19 m^-3 at mass flow rate of 0.2 mg/s. The results are in good agreement with 1D calculations.
We confirmed that using a laser with shorter wavelength and pulse width improved the detection limit.
The present results show that the Rayleigh scattering method will be useful for measurement of the neutral atom number density in the plume region, with further improvement of the detection limit. This method could be used to reveal vacuum facility effects on electric propulsion system performance, and further illuminate the physics behind electric propulsion.
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