Cathode-less gridded ion thrusters for small satellites

We present here a new gridded ion thruster, called Neptune, that operates with only one Radio Frequency (RF) power source for ionization, ion acceleration and beam neutralization in addition to solid iodine as propellant. Thus significant simplifications, over excising gridded thrusters, might allow downscaling to satellites as small as 6 kg. The combined acceleration and neutralization is achieved by applying an RF voltage to the grid system via a blocking capacitor. As for similar RF capacitive systems, a self-bias is formed such that ions are continuously accelerated while electrons are emitted in brief instants within the RF sheath collapse. Moreover, the RF nature of the acceleration system leads to a higher space charge limited current extracted across the grids compared to classical DC operated systems. Measurements of the ion and electron energy distribution functions in the plasma plume show that in addition to the directed beam of ions, the electrons are also anisotropic resulting in a flowing plasma, rather than a beam of positive ions. Experimental characterization of this RF accelerated plume is detailed.