Ion Acceleration in Rotating Magnetized Plasma

The cylindrical Hall thruster represents a basic magnetic nozzle configuration; it also appears to work far better than it should. While its performance has been reported in considerable detail, the ability of this kind of thruster to propel ions with such a narrow plume has remained a mystery. Moreover, in the discharge overrun current regime, cylindrical Hall thrusters display increased electric fields, plume narrowing, reduction of noise, and differences in temperature and density profiles. The unexpected, unusual, and fortunate behavior of the cylindrical Hall thruster, can now be approached by considering certain self-organizing features of supersonically rotating electron plasma.