Ultrahigh Speed Images of Hall Thruster Azimuthal Instabilities

Authors

• David Liu, Air Force Institute of Technology
• Richard E. Huffman Jr., Air Force Institute of Technology
• Richard D. Branam, Air Force Institute of Technology
• William A. Hargus Jr., Air Force Research Laboratory

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2014

Abstract

Visible emission of the azimuthal plasma instabilities were observed within the plume of a low-power Hall thruster utilizing ultrahigh speed imaging. The captured images provide time-dependent and spatial information on the azimuthal instability in the axial-radial plane of the thruster, which have not been well characterized. These images are then compared with observations made based on their probe measurements of azimuthal instabilities termed spoke instabilities. Data from the images show that the spoke instabilities are more complex than originally described and have additional features not detectable with probe measurements in a single plane.

Comments

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DOI

10.1109/TPS.2014.2325799

Source Publication

IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813)

Recommended Citation

D. Liu, R. E. Huffman, R. D. Branam and W. A. Hargus, "Ultrahigh Speed Images of Hall Thruster Azimuthal Instabilities," in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. 42, no. 10, pp. 2656-2657, Oct. 2014, doi: 10.1109/TPS.2014.2325799.