Novel Control of Magnetoplasma Thruster Using Rotating Electromagnetic Fields

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24654196
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plasma science
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: YASAKA Yasuyoshi 神戸大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (30109037)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: プラズマ / 宇宙推進 / 高周波 / 回転電磁界

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Usually, in magnetoplasma thrusters, two helical antennas are equipped to produce and heat plasmas with separate radio frequency (RF) sources. It is also necessary to analyze precisely wave excitation and propagation in a realistic situation including non-uniformity and finite temperature. In this research, a RF-driven magnetoplasma thruster is constructed with utilization of rotating RF fields. It is found experimentally and theoretically that a helical antenna exhibits bi-directional nature, where the waves with different mode numbers are launched and couple with electrons and ions selectively in opposite directions. These two waves are observed to produce high-density plasmas and to heat ions simultaneously, indicating that a specific impulse can be adjusted by changing the strength of the magnetic field.

Free Research Field

数物系科学