Global Numerical Model for the Assessment of the Effect of Geometry and Operation Conditions on Insert and Orifice Region Plasmas of a Thermionic Hollow Cathode Electron Source

Thermionic hollow cathodes have been widely used in wide variety of areas such as spacecraft electric propulsion systems, material processing and lasers for more than half a century as efficient electron sources. Especially in electric propulsion systems, hollow cathodes are being used as electron sources for propellant ionization and ion beam neutralization. Moreover, it is also a promising candidate for utilization as a stand‐alone propulsion system in microsatellites or nanosatellites due to its small physical size, low power consumption and ease of operation. On the other hand, the small geometry of the typical orificed hollow cathodes makes the plasma diagnostics difficult which is why numerical studies become important for understanding the driving physical processes behind their operation, and the effects of the geometry and the operation parameters on cathode performance. In this paper, a global numerical model for the insert and orifice plasma of a hollow cathode is presented where volume averaged plasma parameters are considered for both regions. The results of this study show that the developed model can be used for designing and sizing orificed hollow cathodes as comparisons with the results of experimental and other numerical studies are in good agreement with the ones obtained from the developed model. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)