Numerical Simulation of Non-Uniform Magnetic Field Type RF Plasma Thruster Using Fluid Model

Abstract

The RF plasma thruster is studied to improve the lifetime issue caused by electrode erosion. Our previous study reported that the non-uniform magnetic field near the RF antenna improves the thrust performance. It is important for the optimization of thruster configuration to clarify why the magnetic field configuration strongly influences the thrust performance. The objective of this paper is to numerically investigate the influence of externally applied magnetic field configuration on the plasma. We adopt the three-fluid plasma model which considers ions, electrons and neutral particle. As a result, it is found that the plasma diffusion is significantly affected by the external magnetic field configuration, and although the non-uniform magnetic field does not contribute to the plasma generation efficiency. It is effective to suppress the plasma wall loss.