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    Plasma Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS2-TuM

Invited Paper PS2-TuM3
High Density Discharges in Magnetic Fields: Examples of Plasma Thrusters and RF Ion Sources

Tuesday, October 30, 2001, 9:00 am, Room 104

Session: Emerging Applications of Plasmas
Presenter: A.B. Bouchoule, GREMI Laboratory, Orléans University, France
Authors: A.B. Bouchoule, GREMI Laboratory, Orléans University, France
M. Irzyk, GREMI Laboratory, Orléans University, France
M. Prioul, GREMI Laboratory, Orléans University, France
Correspondent: Click to Email
Magnetized plasmas are involved in various fields of research and applications for their ability to improve power deposition and reduce transport phenomena in gaseous discharges. Two illustrations are described in this contribution. The first one concerns plasma thrusters for space applications, based on the so-called "closed electron drift" discharges. The idea to use Eï‚´B situations in order to achieve simultaneously a high ionization efficiency and an acceleration of the produced ions, at a level close to the discharge voltage, was initiated in the sixties.The improvements of these devices, and the present requirements for satellites control in space, lead to active R&D programs devoted to these thrusters. Their proved efficiency is already very high, but insights on their complex physics remains required, in order to improve modeling and simulations able to predict optimized designs. Obtained within the frame of a national program, results on time averaged or transient phenomena occurring in these thrusters will be described. From the experimental point of view, specific electrical and optical diagnostics have been developed and will be reviewed. In connection with modeling studies, these data improved our understanding of physical properties of these thrusters, both for their transient and time averaged behavior. The second one concerns high density ion sources, derived from RF inductive discharges in atomic or molecular gases, and using conventional gridded extraction system. Discharges have been obtained in various magnetic field configurations by using a "Nagoya type" external antenna. Results show the impact of the magnetic topography on efficiency and other characteristics of such ion sources. High atomic ion current densities have been obtained both for oxygen and nitrogen discharges. An extensive PIC simulation code for such high current density sources has been developed and will be presented,with its experimental validation.