Study of compact electron cyclotron resonance plasma thruster under various conditions

N Balachandran, D Sahu, R Narayanan and A Ganguli
Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110 016, India

Dedicated to Prof P K Kaw

Plasma thrusters for deep space plasma propulsion has been gaining impetus in the recent past. Some of the major R & D work has been on Hall thrusters, rf based helicon thrusters, VASIMIR, etc., which are either dc/pulsed DC or rf based. These plasma thrusters are a significant part of the altitude and orbit control system of a spacecraft that is used for various scientific missions and communication purposes. Although the thrust levels may be only a few mN, the specific impulse obtained can be very high. However, very few efforts have been undertaken using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) sources. Plasma Lab at IIT Delhi has recently shown the efficacy of an indigenously developed Compact ECR Plasma Source (CEPS) to be used as a plasma thruster. CEPS is a microwave (2.45 GHz) energized plasma source developed at the Plasma Lab, IIT Delhi. Various experimental as well as theoretical studies have been done on the CEPS establishing it as an efficient plasma source suitable for various industrial applications. In this work, a finite element software, COMSOL Multi-physics, was used to simulate the Argon plasma dynamics, under different operating conditions, in a CEPS thruster that was attached to an expansion chamber. The study was conducted in two phases, starting with the simulation of a stationary magnetic field using permanent ring magnets from the CEPS in Phase I. This field data was then implemented for the ECR microwave plasma simulation in phase II. The initial findings of the plasma parameters, under different operating conditions, are compared with the experimental results and verified. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Doi: 10.54955/AJP.34.3-4.2025.187-200
Keywords: Plasma, Simulation, COMSOL, Argon plasma, ECR, CEPS, Langmuir Probe.

Peer Review Information
Method: Single- anonymous; Screened for Plagiarism? Yes
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