Particle‐in‐cell simulation of an optimized high‐efficiency multistage plasma thruster

Electric propulsion attracts increasing attention in contemporary space missions as an interesting alternative to chemical propulsion because of the high efficiency it offers. The High‐Efficiency Multistage Plasma thruster, a class of cusped field thruster, is able to operate at different anode voltages and operation points and thereby generate different levels of thrust in a stable and efficient way. Since experiments of such thrusters are inherently expensive, multi‐objective design optimization (MDO) is of great interest. Several optimized thruster designs have resulted from a MDO model based on a zero‐dimensional (0D) power balance model. However, the MDO solutions do not warrant self‐consistency due to their dependency on estimation from empirical modelling based on former experimental studies. In this study, one of the optimized thruster designs is investigated by means of particle‐in‐cell (PIC) analysis to examine the predicted performance characteristics with self‐consistent simulations. The 0D power balance model is used to develop additional diagnostics for the PIC simulations to improve the physics analysis. Using input parameters for the 0D power balance model from the PIC simulations allows further improvement for the design optimization.     

霍尔推力器放电通道溅射腐蚀计算

为了预示霍尔推力器的寿命,建立了推力器粒子束放电通道的2维电磁场模型,模拟的推进剂为氙。利用PIC方法跟踪粒子在电磁场中的运动。磁场的求解采用拉普拉斯方程,电场的求解采用泊松方程。电子由阴极喷入通道,并在电磁场中与原子发生电离碰撞生成离子。在跟踪离子的过程中记录下撞击到内外壁面的离子个数、角度和能量。利用记录下的参数进行腐蚀计算,得到当溅射阈值能量分别为10,20,30,40,50 eV时通道壁面的腐蚀速率。推力器放电通道出口附近的最大腐蚀速率约为1.7×10-9 m/s。     

等离子体融断开关磁场Hall渗透机制的模拟研究

利用自行研制的2-1/2维全电磁柱坐标粒子模拟程序对等离子体融断开关磁场渗透机制进行了模拟研究。模拟结果表明在磁场Hall渗透机制特征长度远远小于等离子体离子的无碰撞趋肤深度的条件下,等离子体内部磁场渗透过程主要由电子流体运动的Hall项来控制。对于等离子体空间分布存在较大的密度梯度的物理问题,必须考虑二维空间特性对磁场渗透速度的影响。在磁场已渗透经过的等离子体区域中,等离子体呈现非电中性,离子受静电场的作用会加速运动到达阴极,最终形成真空鞘层。     

等离子体融断开关磁场Hall渗透机制的模拟研究

 利用自行研制的2-1/2维全电磁柱坐标粒子模拟程序对等离子体融断开关磁场渗透机制进行了模拟研究。模拟结果表明在磁场Hall渗透机制特征长度远远小于等离子体离子的无碰撞趋肤深度的条件下,等离子体内部磁场渗透过程主要由电子流体运动的Hall项来控制。对于等离子体空间分布存在较大的密度梯度的物理问题,必须考虑二维空间特性对磁场渗透速度的影响。在磁场已渗透经过的等离子体区域中,等离子体呈现非电中性,离子受静电场的作用会加速运动到达阴极,最终形成真空鞘层。     

2cm电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源中磁场对等离子体特性与壁面电流影响的数值模拟

电子回旋共振离子推力器(electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster,ECRIT)离子源内等离子体分布会影响束流引出,而磁场结构决定的ECR区与天线的相对位置共同影响了等离子体分布.在鞘层作用下,等离子体中的离子或电子被加速对壁面产生溅射,形成壁面离子或电子电流,造成壁面磨损和等离...     

Particle‐in‐Cell Simulation for the Effect of Segmented Electrodes Near the Exit of an Aton‐Type Hall Thruster on Ion Focusing Acceleration

The effect of floating conductive electrodes near the channel exit of an Aton‐type Hall thruster on ion focusing acceleration is studied by simulating the two‐dimensional plasma flow with a fully kinetic Particle‐in‐Cell method for the gas flow rate j_a ranged in 1～3 mg/s. Numerical results show that low‐emissive electrodes can reduce plume divergence if the electrode length is less than 2 mm due to the low secondary electron emissive characteristic, but widen plume in all the gas flow rate range if the electrode length is greater than 2mm since the conductive property of segmented electrodes trends to make equipotential lines convex toward channel exit and is even parallel to the wall surface in the near‐wall region. Further investigation predicts that the combination of high emissive dielectric wall and segmented low‐emissive dielectric wall is a promising way to reduce plume divergence (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

磁场梯度对Hall推力器放电特性影响的实验研究

为进一步探索Hall推力器通道内磁场优化设计理论,通过实验分析了强场区磁场梯度对推进剂的电离与加速等放电过程的影响. 研究发现,在本实验设计的磁场梯度范围内,磁场梯度大小对推进剂的电离过程影响较小,但是对离子流的加速特性会产生较为明显的影响.随着磁场梯度的增加,离子束的能量分布会趋于集中,推力器效率提高. 最后,对磁场轴向梯度进一步变大可能会引起的一系列物理问题如有限Larmor半径效应、电子传导机理转变规律和梯度漂移效应等进行了分析和思考.     

Effect of a planar magnetic field on the domain wall dynamics in a double-layer uniaxial magnetic film

Motion of an isolated domain wall in a double-layer uniaxial magnetic film, where the film layers differ in characteristic length, saturation magnetization and damping parameter, is investigated by solving the Slonczewski equation. A planar magnetic field is applied normal to the domain-wall plane. The dependences of the threshold field and limiting velocity of disruption of the steady-state motion of the domain wall on the planar magnetic field value are obtained. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 60–63, December, 2008.     

磁场强度对霍尔推力器放电特性影响的实验研究

为探索霍尔推力器通道内优化磁场的标准,本文研究了磁场强度对其放电特性的影响规律.通过在保持磁场形貌不变（“聚焦”形）下改变磁场强度的大小,使用朗缪尔探针、光谱仪等测量手段分析了工作于不同磁安特性曲线段的推力器放电特性.研究表明：当磁场强度小于优化值时,电子横越磁场的传导以近壁传导机制为主;反之,当磁场强度大于优化值时,放电电流反常变化,而现有的电子输运传导机制不能解释这种现象. 关键词： 霍尔推力器 磁场强度 放电特性     

Particle‐in‐cell/Monte Carlo simulation of electron and ion currents to cylindrical Langmuir probe

Electron and ion currents to a cylindrical Langmuir (electrostatic) probe were calculated using the particle‐in‐cell/Monte Carlo (PIC/MC) self‐consistent simulation for a neutral gas in the pressure range 2–3,000 Pa. The simulation enables us to calculate the probe currents even at high neutral gas pressures when the collisions of collected charged particles with neutral gas particles near the probe are important. The main aim of this paper is the calculation of probe currents at such high gas pressures and the comparison of the results with experimentally measured probe currents. Simulations were performed for two cases: (a) probes with varying radii in a non‐thermal plasma with high electron temperature at low neutral gas pressure of 2 Pa (in order to verify the correctness of our simulations), and (b) probe with the radius of 10 μm in the afterglow plasma with low electron temperature and a higher neutral gas pressure (up to 3,000 Pa). The electron probe currents obtained in case (a) show good agreement with those predicted by the orbital motion limited current (OMLC) theory for probes with radii up to 100 μm for the given plasma conditions. At larger probe radii and/or at higher probe voltages, the OMLC theory incorrectly predicts too high an electron probe current for the plasma parameters studied. Additionally, a formula describing the spatial dependence of the electron density in the presheath in the collisionless case is derived. The simulation at higher neutral gas pressures, i.e. case (b), shows a decrease of the electron probe current with increasing gas pressure and the creation of a large presheath around the probe. The simulated electron probe currents are compared with those of measurements by other authors, and the differences are discussed.     

Spin precession of a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field on a static space-time

We investigate the ratio of spin precession frequency to orbital frequency for a spinning charged particle confined to circular orbit in the equatorial plane of a compact object, with a uniform magnetic field, as described by the Wald and the Ernst potentials. In order to see the difference in behaviours for particles with differentg values we consider the cases of electron and proton separately.     

Faster 360° domain wall motion in nanostrip induced by spin-polarized current with out-of-plane magnetic field

By micromagnetic simulation, we show that faster propagation of 360° domain wall in magnetic nanostrips under spin-polarized currents in conjunction with out-of-plane magnetic fields can be obtained. Without magnetic field, the annihilation process of 360° domain wall is irreversible when spin-polarized current velocity above about 220 m/s. The annihilation of 360° domain wall can be suppressed by an out-of -plane magnetic field and domain wall speed can exceed 1500 m/s at large current density. This is different from the case exhibited in 180° domain wall. The underlying mechanism is investigated by changing the state of 360° domain wall and the direction of out-of-plane field.     

The effect of toroidal field on the rotating magnetic field current drive in rotamak plasmas

A rotamak is one kind of compact spherically shaped magnetic-confinement device. In a rotamak the plasma current is driven by means of rotating magnetic field （RMF）. The driven current can reverse the original equilibrium field and generate a field-reversed-configuration. In a conventional rotamak, a toroidal field （TF） is not necessary for the RMF to drive plasma current, but it was found that the present of an additional TF can influence the RMF current drive. In this paper the effect of TF on the RMF current drive in a rotamak are investigated in some detail. The experimental results show that addition of TF increases the RMF driven current greatly and enhances the RMF penetration dramatically. Without TF, the RMF can only penetrate into plasma in the edge region. When a TF is added, the RMF can reach almost the whole plasma region. This is an optimal strength of toroidal magnetic field for getting maximum plasma current when Bv and radio frequency generator power are fixed. Besides driving current, the RMF generates high harmonic fields in rotamak plasma. The effect of TF on the harmonic field spectra are also reported.[第一段]     

磁场中矩形空心阴极离子分布的计算

本文用解析方法研究了在均匀磁场中入射离子在矩形空心阴极中的分布。结果表明当空心阴极的深度和宽度接近的时候，入射离子在一个侧面上的分布不受另一个侧面的影响，同时受阴极深度影响的在底面上的离子分布及粒子数量都从阴极的中心到边缘而单调地降低。     

A Particle‐in‐Cell Simulation of the Breakdown Mechanism in Microdischarges with an Improved Secondary Emission Model

In this paper, the failure of the breakdown voltage from the Paschen's law at extremely small electrode separations is studied. The electrical breakdown in microgaps occurs at the voltages far below the Paschen curve minimum breakdown limit and the modified Paschen curve should be used. Offered explanation for the departure from the Paschen's law at small gap spacings is based on the increasing of the yield of the secondary electrons. The high electric fields existing in small gaps may enhance the secondary electron yield and this would lead to a lowering of the breakdown voltage and to the departure from the Paschen's law. Particlein‐cell/Monte‐Carlo (PIC/MCC) simulations with a new secondary emission model have been performed to estimate the importance of this mechanism in the discharge breakdown. Obtained simulation results suggest that deviations from the Paschen curve across the micron and submicorn gap spacing can be attributed to the ion‐enhanced field emissions. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Reversal of coherent‐state spins in square magnetic nanodots induced by a magnetic microwave field

We study the coherent state excitation of spins in square nanodots induced by a magnetic microwave field. We present a new mechanism of spin reversal in nanodots. That is, the microwave field directly induces the reversal of the coherent‐state spins instead of indirectly through the magnetic vortex. We obtain the space distribution of coherent‐state spins in terms of a quantum theory, and calculate the time of spin reversal. This spin‐reversal process may be used to serve as a storage mechanism of binary information.     

强磁场中超冷费米气体的相对论效应

由单粒子的弱相对论能谱及泊松公式,导出强磁场中费米气体的热力学势函数.在此基础上,运用热力学关系求解低温条件下系统的统计特征量的解析式,分析相对论效应对统计性质的影响机理.研究表明,磁场愈强,相对论效应愈明显.相对论效应引发的单调项与相应的振荡项的振幅相比,对总能,单调项远大于振幅;对化学势及磁矩,单调项与振幅几乎同一量级. 关键词： 强磁场 费米气体 相对论效应     

消磁场对纳米铁磁线磁畴壁动力学行为的影响

为了实现基于磁畴壁运动的自旋电子学装置, 掌握磁畴壁动力学行为是重要争论之一.研究了在外磁场驱动下L-型纳米铁磁线磁畴壁的动力学行为. 通过微磁学模拟,在各种外磁场的驱动下考察了纳米铁磁线磁畴壁的动力学特性; 在较强外磁场的驱动下, 在不同厚度纳米线上考察了纳米线表面消磁场对磁畴壁动力学行为的影响. 为了进一步证实消磁场对磁畴壁动力学的影响, 在垂直于纳米线表面的外磁场辅助下分析了磁畴壁的动力学行为变化. 结果表明, 随着纳米线厚度和外驱动磁场强度的增加, 增强了纳米线表面的消磁场的形成, 使得磁畴壁内部自旋结构发生周期性变化, 导致磁畴壁在纳米线上传播时出现Walker崩溃现象. 在垂直于纳米线表面的外磁场辅助下, 发现辅助磁场可以调节消磁场的强度和方向. 这意味着利用辅助磁场可以有效地控制纳米铁磁线磁畴壁的动力学行为.     

Photodetachment of H- near an elastic surface in a magnetic field

This paper investigates the photodetachment of the negative hydrogen ion H near an elastic wall in a magnetic field.The magnetic field confines the perpendicular motion of the electron,which results in a real three-dimensional well for the detached electron.The analytical formulas for the cross section of the photodetachment in the threedimensional quantum well are derived based on both the quantum approach and closed-orbit theory.The magnetic field and the elastic surface lead to two completely different modulations to the cross section of the photodetachment.The oscillation amplitude depends on the strength of the magnetic field,the ion-wall distance and the photon polarization as well.Specially,for the circularly polarized photon-induced photodetachment,the cross sections display a suppressed(E E th) 1/2 threshold law with energy E in the vicinity above Landau energy E th,contrasting with the(E E th) 1/2 threshold law in the presence of only the magnetic field.The semiclassical calculation fits the quantum result quite well,although there are still small deviations.The difference is attributed to the failure of semiclassical mechanics.     

Discharge characteristics of the DUHOCAMIS with a high magnetic bottle-shaped field

For the purpose of producing high intensity, multiply charged metal ion beams, the dual hollow cathode ion source for metal ions （DUHOCAMIS） was derived from the hot cathode Penning ion source combined with the hollow cathode sputtering experiments in 2007. To investigate the behavior of this discharge geometry in a stronger magnetic bottle-shaped field, a new test bench for DUHOCAMIS with a high magnetic bottle-shaped field up to 0.6 T has been set up at the Peking University. The experiments with magnetic fields from 0.13 T to 0.52 T have indicated that the discharge behavior is very sensitive to the magnetic flux densities. The slope of discharge curves in a very wide range can be controlled by changing the magnetic field as well as regulated by adjusting the cathode heating power; the production of metallic ions would be much greater than gas ions with the increased magnetic flux density; and the magnetic field has a much higher influence on the DHCD mode than on the PIG mode.