Effect of Anode Configuration on Ionization Characteristic in Miniature Ion Thrusters

In this study, a particle-in-cell model of a discharge chamber was developed to simulate the ionization characteristics of miniature ion thrusters by replacing the anode at the magnetic cusp with an insulator. The results show that replacing the anode with an insulator guides the electrons to move along the magnetic field lines to other cusps, which expands the radial range of the downstream electron group, produces a high-density plasma group over a larger radial range, and improves the plasma density in the discharge chamber. However, an insulator that is too long causes electrons to move toward the bottom cusp and gather upstream of the discharge chamber, weakening the ionization effect downstream. In summary, a better ionization effect can be obtained by choosing a reasonable insulator length, which can be used to regulate the degrees of freedom to improve the ionization performance.