Bismuth hollow cathode for hall thrusters

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Abstract

The operating characteristics of a bismuth LaB6 cathode at different mass flow rates were investigated. The designed cathode were designed to operate on bismuth as well as on gaseous propellants such as xenon and krypton and the overall dimensions of the cathode were 2.5 cm in diameter by 24 cm in length. Testing was performed in a 2-m diameter by 4-m long vacuum chamber and the tank was evacuated using three magnetically levitated thermomolecular pumps capable of pumping at 2000 L/s each and backed by a mechanical pump with a pumping capacity of 400 ft3/min. An operating pressure of 3 × 10-6 was maintained and tank pressure was an order of magnitude greater when testing the xenon and krypton cathode. It was determined that an increase in the discharge power may have an effect on the amount of bismuth being evaporated from the end orifice.

Publication Title

Journal of Propulsion and Power

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