Design Optimization and Experiment of 5-cm ECR Ion Thruster

A cross magnetic field configuration (CMFC) was selected to design a microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion thruster with a chamber diameter of 5 cm. The design was performed using the COMSOL Multiphysics software. Based on the commercially available arc-shaped samarium-cobalt magnet, the balanced optimization of CMFC was achieved at the frequency of 2.45 GHz. In Xe ion extraction discharge excited with the originally selected rod antenna, arcing on its front end was confirmed. The arcing problem was solved by replacing with a circular plate antenna. In terms of Xe ion extraction, 5-cm CMFC ECR ion thruster was shown to be better than its counterparts. COMSOL plasma simulation was used to reproduce two opposite discharge profiles observed in experiments.