Plasma properties in electron-bombardment ion thrusters

The paper describes a technique for computing volume-averaged plasma properties within electron-bombardment ion thrusters, using spatially varying Langmuir-probe measurements. Average values of the electron densities are defined by integrating the spatially varying Maxwellian and primary electron densities over the ionization volume, and then dividing by the volume. Plasma properties obtained in the 30-cm-diameter J-series and ring-cusp thrusters are analyzed by the volume-averaging technique. The superior performance exhibited by the ring-cusp thruster is correlated with a higher average Maxwellian electron temperature. The ring-cusp thruster maintains the same fraction of primary electrons as does the J-series thruster, but at a much lower ion production cost. The volume-averaged predictions for both thrusters are compared with those of a detailed thruster performance model.