Simulation of Electron Cyclotron Resonance in a Microwave Discharge Ion Thruster

Abstract

The performance of the ion thruster depends on the discharge performance and the beam extraction, the former of which is significantly effected by the electron property such as density and energy, since ions are produced by ionization collisions between neutral atoms and electrons. In the microwave ion thruster, the discharge owes to the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). Thus, the electron phenomenon in the microwave discharge chamber was numerically investigated by the particle simulation method. In our model, the electromagnetic wave is polarized circularly and propagates in the axial direction and electrons are moved in the microwave and static magnetic fields, colliding with neutral particles. Collision processes are taken into account by the Monte Carlo method. This simulation results show that some electrons can be heated enough to cause ionization collisions and that the density and energy distributions are peculiar to the microwave ion thrusters.