Kinetic Simulation of Plasma in Ion Thruster Discharge Chamber. Comparison with Experimental Data

Development of electric propulsion systems (EPS) with high efficiency, reliability and long lifetime is required for solution of present-day space challenges. Ion thrusters (IT) are among the most promising types of EPS.This work is dedicated to numerical simulation of discharge chamber plasma. A 2D 3 V kinetic non-stationary particle-in-cell model has been developed. It includes several new techniques. Maintenance of quasi-neutrality at the cathode border allows the value of discharge current depending on the dynamic plasma parameters to be obtained. In addition, the model includes a technique for modelling operation of a power supply. It expects discharge current control by discharge voltage variation. Combination of these two features allows us to consider plasma discharge in the DC as a dynamic self-consistent system.Several simulations of IT-50 ion thruster operation modes were carried out using the present model. Simulation results and experimental data show sufficient agreement.