Berlin 2014 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 13: Poster Session - Diagnostics

P 13.14: Poster

Dienstag, 18. März 2014, 16:30–18:30, SPA Foyer

Beam Diagnostics for Gridded Ion Engines in the µN Thrust Range — •Peter E. Köhler and Bruno K. Meyer — Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, I. Physikalisches Institut, Gießen, Germany

In the near future mini ion engines are going to have many applications. These engines provide the possibility of accurate fine positioning in the space and a precise control of attitude. To qualify the thruster and the ion beam, we need a corresponding diagnostic system, which can record the high dynamics of the exhausted ion beam.

In the special case of a radio-frequency ion thruster, the mean electron energy inside the plasma can be derived from the ion energy distribution of the beam. This leads to the great advantage of measuring plasma parameters without any perturbation of the plasma itself.

At the University of Giessen we developed a new diagnostic system to detect the ion beam. All sensors can be rotated around the thruster. The linear Faraday-cup array has a special cup-alignment for high resolution scanning of the ion beam profile. The energy distribution is recorded with a retarding potential analyzer. We show the development of our diagnostic system and present measurements of our smallest µN gridded ion engine.