Scaling Laws of Lissajous Helicon Plasma Accelerator toward Electric Propulsion in Space
POSTER
Abstract
Scaling law of Lissajous Helicon Plasma Accelerator(LHPA) is derived and tested via PIC simulations with code VORPAL. In the LHPA, rotating transverse electric field in external longitudinal uniform magnetic field drives azimuthal current via ExB drift then thrust is produced due to Lorentz force. An 1D analytical model is developed which includes field penetration and ExB current estimation based on trajectory analysis. Scaling law of thrust as a function of parameters of RF drive frequency, applied RF voltage, plasma density, size of the thruster will be shown.
*This work is supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research under Contract No. S 21226019 from the JSPS. The authors would like to acknowledge pioneering works by late Prof. Kyoichiro Toki.