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Cited by 13Low-Pressure Plasma Processing and DiagnosticsVacuum and Plasma ArcsAtomic and Molecular Physics

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Importance of stepwise ionization from the metastable state in electron cyclotron resonance ion thrusters

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Yamashita, Yusuke, Tsukizaki, Ryudo, Nishiyama, Kazutaka·2022·Journal of Electric Propulsion
DOI 10.1007/s44205-022-00002-1
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Abstract

In electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) thrusters, the plasma mode transition is a critical phenomenon because it determines the maximum thrust performance. In ECR ion thrusters, ionization generally occurs in the magnetic confinement region, where electrons are continuously heated by ECR and confined by magnetic mirrors. However, as the flow rate increases, ionization is also observed outside the magnetic confinement region, and this induces the plasma mode transition. In our previous work, two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) analysis revealed that the stepwise ionization from the metastable state plays an important role in the ionization process. However, the distribution of the stepwise ionization has not yet been revealed because of the long lifetime of the metastable state. In this study, this distribution was investigated using one experimental and two numerical approaches. First, TALIF was applied to two types of gas injection with clear differences in thrust performance and ground-state neutral density distribution. In the first simulation, the metastable state particle simulation was used to estimate the excitation rate distribution. In the second study, simulations of the electric field of microwaves were used to estimate the contribution of the stepwise ionization to the plasma density. The experimental and numerical results revealed that the stepwise ionization spreads outside the magnetic confinement region because of the diffusion of metastable particles, and this spread induces the plasma mode transition, explaining the difference between the two types of gas injection.

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  • Energy-conserving PIC algorithms have a different domain of parameters where the finite-grid instability is triggered compared to momentum-conserving schemes.

    “It turned out that such energy-conserving PIC (ECPIC) algorithms have a different domain of parameters where the FGI is triggered compared to the momentumconserving schemes 323”

    From Plasma propulsion modeling with particle-based algorithms (2023) · cites this paper as [323]

    The 'Effect of stepwise ionization on microwave propagation' section describes a tridiagonal solver and plasma boundary conditions, not finite-grid instability. Searches for energy-conserving and momentum-conserving PIC algorithms and their instability parameter domains found no passage addressing the comparison. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.77)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Momentum-conserving schemes become unstable if the Debye length or the plasma period are not resolved by the cell size or the time step, whereas energy-conserving schemes suffer from the finite-grid instability only if the average electron drift exceeds their thermal velocity.

    “Whereas the latter becomes unstable if the Debye length or the plasma period are not resolved by the cell size or the time step, the former suffers from the FGI only if the average electron drift exceeds their thermal velocity (note, however, that such a study was never conducted for magnetized plasmas).”

    From Plasma propulsion modeling with particle-based algorithms (2023) · cites this paper as [323]

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 0 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 2 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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Metadata

Authors
Yamashita, Y., Tsukizaki, R., & Nishiyama, K.
Affiliations
  • The University of Tokyo (JP)
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP)
Corresponding author
Yamashita, Yusuke
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Electric Propulsion
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-03-17
Volume
1
Issue
1
ISSN
2731-4596 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1007/s44205-022-00002-1
OpenAlex
W4220968586
Cited by
13
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2
FWCI
0.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Journal of Electric Propulsion (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (17H04973, 20J11456)
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
  • Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Low-Pressure Plasma Processing and Diagnostics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Vacuum and Plasma Arcs
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Atomic and Molecular Physics
Keywords
stepwise ionization, metastable states, two-photon laser-induced fluorescence, gas injection, plasma density distribution, thrust performance

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