Yuichi Nakagawa

Electron extraction mechanisms of a micro-ECR neutralizer

Three-dimensional particle simulations have been conducted to analyze the mechanisms of electron extraction through the orifices of a 4.2 GHz microwave discharge microneutralizer, using a xenon electron cyclotron resonance plasma. The dimensions of the neutralizer are 20 × 20 × 4 mm3, and a ring-shaped microwave antenna and permanent magnets are employed for its discharges. The numerical model is composed of a particle-in-cell simulation with a Monte Carlo collision algorithm for charged particle motions, a finite-difference time-domain method for microwaves, and a finite element analysis for magnetostatic fields. The simulation results have shown that the electrostatic field inside the plasma source has a dominant effect on electron extraction. The extracted electrons move along the magnetic field line to the orifice entrances and the E × B drift at the orifice edge induces electron extraction.

Effects of E × B drift on electron transport across the magnetic field in a miniature microwave discharge neutralizer

Using a three-dimensional particle-in-cell model, electron transport across a magnetic field has been investigated by obtaining the time-varying electric field and plasma parameters in a miniature microwave discharge neutralizer. The size of the neutralizer is 20 × 20 × 4 mm3. Ring-shaped antenna producing 4.2 GHz microwaves and permanent magnets for xenon plasma discharges are present inside. There are four orifices for electron extraction. The simulation area consists of both the discharge chamber and the vacuum region for the extraction. The numerical results show that radial striped patterns occur where the peak electron density is obtained, and the patterns seem to rotate in the azimuthal direction. This characteristic structure is very similar to recent results obtained in Hall thrusters and is probably due to the electron drift instability. Owing to the plasma structure, the azimuthal electric field is generated, which results in the E × B drift velocity in the axial direction with the radial magne...

Numerical simulation of full-aperture-pair ion optics in a miniature ion thruster

The 211-aperture-pair two-grid ion optics of a miniature ion thruster is numerically simulated. Since the plasma in the miniature ion thruster is too inhomogeneous to introduce mirror or translational boundary conditions between apertures, all the apertures of the grid system are considered. The simulation is self-consistent, the ion current profile in the discharge chamber plasma is given by the particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision algorithm calculations, and all the ion beams extracted from the full-aperture-pair array were tracked including charge-exchange ions. A scheme for the construction of the full-aperture-pair simulation domain is proposed based on the array of a six-fold hexagonal single-aperture-pair simulation domain, which can be extended to other numbers of aperture pairs. Numerical results on accel impingement current and ion-beam profile are compared to experimental data and shown to be in reasonable agreement. Furthermore, the full-aperture-pair ion-optics model is compared with t...