國 立 成 功 大 學

航 空 太 空 工 程 學 系
碩 士 論 文
應用於立方衛星的感應耦合電漿源射頻

離子微推進器之研發

Development of a Miniature Radio-Frequency Ion

Thruster with Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Source for
CubeSat Propulsion
研究生： 黃達言 Student: Ta-Yen Huang

指導教授： 李約亨 Advisor: Yueh-Heng Li

Master Thesis
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
College of Engineering
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C.
October 2021

中 華 民 國 110 年 10 月
i
 ABSTRACT
Decreasing satellite launch costs have prompted numerous countries to

investigate the benefits of satellite launches. Ion thrusters can provide thrust on

the order of millinewtons with a high specific impulse of 1000 s for long-term

station keeping . This study investigated an inductively coupled plasma (ICP)

as an ion source. This ICP source can produce high-density plasma and has high

propellant utilization efficiency and low power consumption. The ICP source

was induced by a 13.56-MHz electromagnetic field and by supplying argon

propellant gas into the radio frequency (RF) ion thruster at low gas pressures.

The ions were accelerated along the electrostatic field gradient by using a

potential bias to form an ion beam. SIMION was used to simulate the trajectory

and distribution of the ion beam. An electron-emitting neutralizer must be

located downstream of the thruster to neutralize the potential of the ion thruster.

A Langmuir probe was used to measure the electron temperature and plasma

density. A Faraday cup was used to determine the ion current of the ion thruster.

The parameters of the ICP ion source and the performance of the ion beam were

evaluated using the measurement systems. The miniature RF ion thruster

achieved 1200 – 1633 s of specific impulse and 7.6 – 13.8 mN of thrust at 80

W of total input power. The thruster efficiency was 10% – 13%, and the mass

utilization efficiency was 12% – 16%.

Keywords: Specific impulse, radio-frequency, Inductively coupled plasma,

Langmuir probe

ii
 摘要
近年來，隨著太空產業的發展，衛星發射成本的降低，將衛星送入地
球軌道的趨勢越來越大，這為許多國家研究太空業提供了有吸引力的動
力。相較於化學推進器，電力推進系統通常比化學推進具有更高比衝的性
能，以減少推進劑的體積重量並在可長時間運行。離子推進器的優勢在於
具有高比衝的性能來執行長久任務。在這項研究中，感應耦合電漿(ICP)
在射頻 (RF) 波段的發展下已被用作電漿源。通過使用多級集成電路產
生高頻信號來產生射頻電能。然而，電路功率放大電路必須連接到阻抗匹
配電路以將射頻功率傳輸到螺線管線圈。否則，可能會引起反射功率，從
而危及射頻產生電路。這種感應耦合電漿源可以在高推進劑利用效率和
低功耗下提供高密度電漿源。此外，高頻電磁場在低氣壓條件下電離推進
劑形成感應耦合電漿。靜電場通過高壓電差加速離子以形成離子束。為了
中和推進器的電位能，需要安裝發射電子的中和器，在推進器的下游中和
離子束。SIMION 軟件用於模擬加速區域的離子路徑和離子束受到電場
影響之軌跡。感應耦合電漿源的特性和離子推進器之性能將由量測系統
診斷。最終，離子推進器的性能可以在 80W – 120W 總輸入功率下提供
1200 –1633.3 秒的比衝和 7.6 –13.8 mN 的推力。推進器效率可達 10－
13%，質量利用效率可達 12% – 16%。總之，微型射頻離子推進器可成為
立方體衛星任務電力推進系統之候選者。
關鍵詞：比衝、射頻、感應耦合電漿、離子推進器

iii
 致謝
感謝李約亨老師在這兩年來的指導與幫助，讓我在迷茫困惑的時候，指
引我一條路，讓我有方向去嘗試並前進，才能讓我完成這項研究。記得
在跟老師單獨報告的時候，我一開始都比較沒有勇氣或信心去跟老師呈
現成果，但是老師總是跟我說要對自己的研究有自信，這樣才會使人信
服以及表現出專業的樣子。李老師也教導我研究上的邏輯思考的能力，
在平常的開會中問的問題，都可以學到如何有正確的判斷以及分析數據
上的技巧。在這條路上，走得很艱辛，從無中生有的感覺真的很難，從
一開始要做出能產生電漿的電路，就讓我絞盡腦汁以及研究了很多種不
一樣的電路，所以我要感謝尤鵬程工程師，教了我很多電路的知識以及
電路實作上會遇到以及要注意的問題，終於在費了一番苦心之後，我能
做出一塊功能良好，穩定輸出的電路都要歸功於尤鵬程工程師的教導與
幫忙。我也要感謝張博宇老師一路下來對我的指導，博宇老師真的算是
我電漿領域的啟蒙老師，讓我從零到現在對於電漿的了解有很大的進
步，也謝謝博宇老師在下課的時候，都願意犧牲休息時間留下來跟我討
論研究，讓我可以得到很好的建議以及幫忙。也謝謝老師在我壓力很大
且低潮的時候，跟我說了一段鼓勵的話，讓我知道我可以變得更好更卓
越以及得到往前走的動力。在碩士班的兩年中，非常感謝後毅學長、明
學學長在研究上的細心指導以及問我的問題，都能讓我好好思考研究上
的缺失，讓我少花了很多時間去走冤枉路，開會中學長們都能問出專業
的問題並一下子就抓出我的錯誤，讓我在心中很欣賞學長們的能力以及
研究上的知識跟技巧，因為學長的訓練，所以也讓我學習的很快以及知
道實驗上非常重要的細節，也成功地推了我完成這項研究。當然，還有
太多需要感謝的人，感謝彥儒、健鈞、勝文學長在我有疑問的時候，都
能給出很多實質上的幫助與建議，常常在跟你們討論的時候，會想通很
多實驗上的問題，有時候學長的一些點子，就是讓我實驗成功的一個啟
發，這個啟發是很難能可貴的。還有謝謝學弟妹們，讓我在做實驗待在
實驗室的時候，能有一個很舒服的空間，也能聊聊天紓解心中的壓力。
最後感謝我的家人一直無條件的支持我鼓勵我，給我最強的後盾，可以
分享碩士班的故事以及給我很暖心的動力及鼓勵，讓我可以無後顧之憂
地投入研究、寫論文中，然後還跟我說，碩士班當然要好好培養自己的
能力，越困難的挑戰，越能讓自己變得更好能力更強。再次感謝所有曾
經幫助我的人，謝謝你們!!!

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract ............................................................................................................. ii
摘要 .................................................................................................................. iii
致謝 .................................................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................. v
LIST OF TABLE ......................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................... viii
NOMENCLATURE.................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background .............................................................................................. 1
1.2 Thruster fundamental parameters ............................................................ 3
1.3 Space Electric propulsion......................................................................... 7
1.4 CubeSat Application .............................................................................. 20
1.5 Motivation and purpose ......................................................................... 27
Chapter 2 RF ion thruster literature review .................................................... 29
2.1 Discharge chamber ................................................................................. 29
2.2 RF plasma source ................................................................................... 30
2.3 Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source .............................................. 34
2.4 Acceleration grid system ........................................................................ 38
2.5 Neutralizer .............................................................................................. 40
2.6 RF ion thruster ....................................................................................... 46
2.7 Measurement system .............................................................................. 53
Chapter 3 Experimental set-up ........................................................................ 57
3.1 Schematic of the ion thruster system ..................................................... 57
3.2 A gas feeding system and discharge chamber design ............................ 58

v
 3.3 Radio-frequency(RF) power system ..................................................... 61
3.4 Impedance matching circuit .................................................................. 63
3.5 Ion optics system and neutralizer design ............................................... 66
3.6 Measurement system .............................................................................. 78
Chapter 4 Performance of RF ion thruster and plasma diagnostics ................ 82
4.1 Propellant Feeding System..................................................................... 82
4.2 Vacuum chamber test ............................................................................. 84
4.3 RF Circuit performance ......................................................................... 86
4.4 RF plasma generation and experimental results .................................... 91
4.5 RF ion thruster experimental improvement ........................................... 97
4.6 Plasma measurement results ................................................................ 104
Chapter 5 Discussion ..................................................................................... 109
5.1 Analyses of the thruster performance .................................................. 109
5.2 Discussion and comparison of the ion thruster performance............... 117
Chapter 6 Conclusion and future work ......................................................... 119
6.1 Conclusion............................................................................................ 119
6.2 Future work .......................................................................................... 122
Reference ....................................................................................................... 123

vi
 LIST OF TABLE

Table 1 Comparison of the different electric propulsion [12] ........................ 19

Table 2 Classification of Satellites by Mass ................................................... 24

Table 3 Comparison of the electric propulsion [12] ....................................... 26

Table 4 Comparison of the plasma sources .................................................... 33

Table 5 The comparison of different RF ion thrusters ................................... 52

Table 6 Calibration mass flow rate ................................................................. 60

Table 7 The cases of L-type circuit (tested by the frequency of 1 MHz) ....... 65

Table 8 The parameters of the four grids system and three grids system .... 108

Table 9 Comparison of RF ion thruster performance ................................... 118

vii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Lunar Ice-Cube spacecraft design [1]. ............................................... 2

Figure 2 Electric propulsion in space propulsion [4]. ...................................... 8

Figure 3 Configuration of the resisto-jet [5]. ................................................... 9

Figure 4 Arcjet system illustration [7]............................................................ 10

Figure 5 (a) Arcjet picture capture region (b) the discharge process in Nitrogen

fluid (c) the discharge process in air-fluid [7]. ................................................ 11

Figure 6 A type of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster [8]. ....................................... 12

Figure 7 Schematic of the vacuum arc thruster [9]. ....................................... 13

Figure 8 Typical ion thruster diagram [10]. ................................................... 14

Figure 9 The potential setting of the ion optics system [3]. ........................... 15

Figure 10 A design of the ion optics system [11]. .......................................... 16

Figure 11 Hollow cathode and explode view diagram [11]. .......................... 17

Figure 12 A schematic of Hall thruster [9]. .................................................... 18

Figure 13 (a) Top view and (b) bottom view of PROCYON microsatellite [14].

......................................................................................................................... 22

Figure 14 (a) The design of 6U CubeSat (b) The sectional drawing of 6U

CubeSat [2]. ..................................................................................................... 23

Figure 15 Applications of electric propulsion systems [15]........................... 25

Figure 16 The procedure of RF ion thruster development. ............................ 27

Figure 17 The diagram of the capacitively coupled plasma system [19]. ...... 30

Figure 18 Construction of the helicon ion thruster [20]. ................................ 31

viii
Figure 19 A double saddle antenna design of the helicon plasma source

[20]. ................................................................................................................. 32

Figure 20 The electromagnetic spectrum with various frequencies [21]. ...... 34

Figure 21 The solenoid type of the antenna [18]. .......................................... 36

Figure 22 An ICP ion thruster configuration [24]. ......................................... 38

Figure 23 RIT-μX ion thruster construction [25]. .......................................... 39

Figure 24 Tungsten filament neutralizer [27]. ................................................ 41

Figure 25 Busek Carbon Nanotube Field Emission [28]. .............................. 42

Figure 26 CNTFE diagram [28]. .................................................................... 42

Figure 27 Orifice hollow cathode [27]. .......................................................... 43

Figure 28 Schematic design of ICP cathode [29]. .......................................... 44

Figure 29 EM BIT-1 RF Cathode (left), and the fire testing with an external

anode plate (Right) [30]. ................................................................................. 45

Figure 30 The 1cm-class micro radio-frequency ion thruster [32]. ............... 47

Figure 31 Fire testing of the 1cm RF ion thruster [32]. ................................. 47

Figure 32 RIT µX radio-frequency ion thruster [25]. .................................... 48

Figure 33 RIT µX ion thruster configuration (top) and fire testing (bottom) [33].

......................................................................................................................... 49

Figure 34 BIT-3 RF Ion Thruster [34]. ........................................................... 50

Figure 35 BIT-3 Operating on Xenon (Left) and Iodine (Right) [30]............ 51

Figure 36 Schematic of (a) single probe circuit (b) double probe circuit (c)triple

probe circuit [35]. ............................................................................................ 54

Figure 37 The structure of the Langmuir probe [35]. .................................... 55

ix
Figure 38 A design Faraday cup [36]. ............................................................ 56

Figure 39 Experimental construction of a miniature RF ion thruster system. 57

Figure 40 Experimental vacuum system. ....................................................... 58

Figure 41 The design of the discharge chamber of the ICP plasma source. .. 59

Figure 42 The procedure diagram of the power system. ................................ 61

Figure 43 Discharge chamber of the ICP plasma source. .............................. 62

Figure 44 (a) L-type (b) T-type (c)π-type [38]. ............................................ 63

Figure 45 L-type impedance matching [38]. .................................................. 64

Figure 46 Schematic mesh design of two grids system. ................................ 67

Figure 47 Schematic mesh design of the three-grid system........................... 68

Figure 48 Schematic mesh design of four grids system. ................................ 69

Figure 49 SIMION simulation setup of the particle group. ........................... 70

Figure 50 Simulation results for ion trajectories in the (a) two-grid system (b)

three-grid system, and (c) four-grid system. ................................................... 72

Figure 51 Distribution of the ion beam of (a) two-grid system (b) three-grid

system, and (c) four-grid system. .................................................................... 73

Figure 52 Acceleration grids. ......................................................................... 75

Figure 53 Insulated Teflon rings..................................................................... 75

Figure 54 (a) Front and (b) back views of the ion optics system. .................. 76

Figure 55 A tungsten filament of the neutralizer design. ............................... 77

Figure 56 RF passive filter. ............................................................................ 80

Figure 57 Faraday cup structure. .................................................................... 81

Figure 58 Propellant Feeding System. ........................................................... 83

x
Figure 59 Chamber pressure under different mass flow rates........................ 84

Figure 60 RF Circuit layout in Diptrace......................................................... 86

Figure 61 Completed RF circuit. .................................................................... 87

Figure 62 Impedance matching circuit. .......................................................... 88

Figure 63 Voltage output with no load. .......................................................... 89

Figure 64 Voltage output with impedance matching. ..................................... 90

Figure 65 Discharge of the ICP source........................................................... 91

Figure 66 Waveform of the solenoid coil. ...................................................... 92

Figure 67 The power performance of the solenoid coil. ................................ 93

Figure 68 ICP source measurement. ............................................................... 95

Figure 69 Langmuir probe I-V data. .............................................................. 96

Figure 70 (a) Schematic, (b) miniature RF ion thruster. ................................ 98

Figure 71 RF ion thruster in the high-pressure test. ..................................... 100

Figure 72 RF ion thruster operating with an ion optics system. .................. 100

Figure 73 First successful test of RF ion thruster. ........................................ 101

Figure 74 (a) An upper and (b) lower neutralizer exhibiting breakdown at a

pressure of 5 × 10−4 torr................................................................................. 102

Figure 75 Successful stability test of RF ion thruster. ................................. 103

Figure 76 Faraday cup experiment. .............................................................. 104

Figure 77 Mass flow rate with respect to ion beam current for (a) the four-grid

system and (b) the three-grid system. ........................................................... 105

Figure 78 Langmuir probe experiment......................................................... 106

Figure 79 I-V curves for (a) the four-grid system and (b) the three-grid system.

xi
....................................................................................................................... 107

Figure 80 Ion beam voltages for (a) the four-grid and (b) three-grid

systems. ......................................................................................................... 111

Figure 81 (a) Ion beam current and (b) thrust of the three- and four-grid systems

at different mass flow rates. .......................................................................... 113

Figure 82 (a) Specific impulse and (b) mass utilization efficiency of the four-

and three-grid systems under different mass flow rates. ............................... 115

Figure 83 Thrust efficiency of four- and three-grid systems under different

mass flow rates. ............................................................................................. 116

Figure 84 (a) Specific impulse with respect to thrust (b) Fitting point (red dot)

in Gridded ion thruster................................................................................... 120

xii
 NOMENCLATURE

A Richardson's constant [mA/mm2 ∙ K2]

A area of Langmuir probe [𝑚2 ]

dm loss of per unit mass [kg]

dV adding per unit velocity [m/s]

e electric charge [C]

E electric field [N/ C]

g gravity velocity [m/s2]

I current amplitude [A]

I𝑏 ion beam current [A]

I𝑐 coil current [A]

I𝑚 current amplitude [A]

I𝑒𝑠 electron saturation current [A]

I𝑖𝑠 ion saturation current [A]

I𝑠𝑝 specific impulse [s]

J current density of the emission [mA/ mm2]

k Boltzmann constant [J/K]

M total mass of the spacecraft [kg]

𝑀𝑖 ion mass [kg]

𝑚𝑑 delivered mass [kg]

𝑚𝑖 ion mass of the propellant [kg]

𝑚𝑝 mass of the propellant [kg]

xiii
𝑚̇ і ion mass flow rate [kg/s]
𝑚̇ 𝑝 mass flow rate of the propellant [kg/s]

N Number of coil turns per unit length [1/m]

𝑛0 plasma density [kg]

𝑃𝑎𝑐 alternating current power [W]

𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 average power [W]

𝑃𝑏 ion beam power [W]

𝑃𝑑𝑐 direct current power [W]

𝑃𝑟 reflected power [W]

𝑃𝑇 total input power of the thruster [W]

q electron charge [C]

t time [s]

T thrust [N]

𝑇𝑒 electron temperature [K]

T temperature [K]

𝑇𝑒 electron temperature [K]

V Total velocity [m/s]

𝑣𝑒𝑥 exhaust velocity of the propellant [m/s]

𝑣𝑖 ion exhaust velocity [m/s]

v𝑒𝑥 effective exhaust velocity [m/s]

V𝑏 net voltage [V]

V1 voltage of the probe 1 [V]

V2 voltage of the probe 2 [V]

xiv
V𝑓 floating potential [V]

V𝑠 point voltage [V]

V𝑚 point voltage [V]

Greek symbols

ɳ𝑐 conversion efficiency [%]

ɳ𝑒 electrical efficiency [%]

ɳ𝑚 mass utilization efficiency [%]

ɳ𝑇 thruster efficiency [%]

Φ𝐵 magnetic field [H/m]

µ0 permeablility constant [N∙A-2]

∅ work function [eV]

𝜔 angular frequency [rad/s]

ϑ phase lag [°]

θI phase shift of the current [°]

θV phase shift of the voltage [°]

γ charged species -

xv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Organizations have executed numerous lunar exploration missions to land

on the Moon and analyze its surface composition. The National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has investigated the

properties of the lunar surface and its water and ice by using small satellites

with various propulsion systems [1]. Small satellites for deep space missions

are essential to the development of advanced exploration systems. The Lunar

IceCube mission is an example of a small-scale satellite exploration mission in

deep space[2]. The Lunar IceCube mission was developed as part of NASA’s

Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships. The mission has several

partners: (1) Morehead State University in Kentucky is responsible for

designing the six-unit (6U) CubeSats; (2) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight

Center in Greenbelt is responsible for modeling a low-thrust trajectory to

minimize propellant costs for lunar capture; and (3) Busek, located in

Massachusetts, is developing the electric propulsion system for the CubeSats.

The Lunar IceCube satellites will use lunar gravity and an RF ion engine to

enter a transfer trajectory to the desired lunar orbits. The geometric design of

the Lunar Ice Cube is shown in Figure 1 [1].

1
 Figure 1 Lunar Ice-Cube spacecraft design [1].

CubeSats are small spacecraft with a standardized unit size (U) of a ten-

centimeter cube (i.e., a 1U CubeSat would be 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm). These

satellites have been used for various space missions that require small,

multifunctional, and low-cost satellites. The mission requirements for CubeSats

and microsatellites have increased. For both CubeSats traveling in deep space

and maneuvering in Earth orbit, ion thrusters can provide continuous thrust for

orbital changes and can support long-term missions because of their high

specific impulse. The miniaturization of RF ion thrusters enables their use in

future microsatellite applications.

2
1.2 Thruster fundamental parameters

1.2.1 Thrust
In the propulsion system, the thruster provides the momentum force and

creates the thrust to move the spacecraft. From the rocket equation, the force of

the thruster is equal to the product of the total mass of the spacecraft, and

velocity changed with time, as shown in Eqn. (1) [3].

𝑑𝑣
𝑇=M (1)
𝑑𝑡

where T is a thrust [N], and M is the total mass of the spacecraft [kg]. The

thruster on the spacecraft provides the opposite direction of the force, which is

the momentum change with time shown in Eqn. (2).

The rate of momentum can be formed as that the mass flow rate of the

propellant times the exhaust velocity. [3]

𝑑 𝑑𝑚𝑝
𝑇=− (𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑒𝑥 ) = 𝑣𝑒𝑥 = 𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑣𝑒𝑥 (2)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

where 𝑚𝑝 is the mass of propellant [kg], 𝑣𝑒𝑥 is exhaust velocity of the

propellant [m/s] and 𝑚̇ 𝑝 is the mass flow rate of propellant [kg/s].

The total mass of the rocket can be the sum of the propellant mass and the

delivered mass, shown as Eqn. (3)

M = 𝑚𝑑 + 𝑚𝑝 (3)

where 𝑚𝑑 is the delivered mass, which is equal to the sum of payload mass

and the electric propulsion structure mass [kg].

With the momentum conservation Eqn. (4), we can find two important

formulas concerning the important information of the thruster.

3
 MV = (M − dm)(𝑉 + d𝑉) + dm(𝑉 − 𝑣𝑒𝑥 ) (4)

where V is the total velocity forward to the spacecraft[m/s], dm is the loss of

per unit mass [kg], and dV is the adding per unit velocity[m/s].

Then, we can get the derivation of the formula with integration, shown as

Eqn. (5).
𝑚 𝑑𝑀 1 𝑉+∆𝑉
− ∫M 𝑑 = ∫𝑉 𝑑𝑉 (5)
𝑀 𝑣𝑒𝑥

We can rearrange the Eqn. (5) with two critical formulas. First, Eqn. (6)

donates the velocity variation of the thruster (∆V), which implies the thruster

performance that can be able to change the orbit or achieve interplanetary travel.

Second, the delivered mass can be determined with the exponential

function terms and the total mass of the spacecraft. Therefore, we can determine

the value of the propellant mass carrying on the spacecraft based on Eqn. (7).
𝑀𝑇
∆𝑉 = 𝑣𝑒𝑥 ln (6)
𝑚𝑑

∆𝑉
𝑚𝑑 = Mexp⁡(− ) (7)
𝑣𝑒𝑥

In an ion thruster system, the thrust is transformed as the current beam

with accelerating grids to generate the force.

1.2.2 Specific impulse (𝐈𝒔𝒑 )

The definition of the specific impulse is the ratio of per unit propellant

consumption rate transfer into the providing thrust of the thruster. The equation

is shown as Eqn. (8) [3]

𝑇
I𝑠𝑝 = (8)
𝑚𝑝̇ 𝑔

4
 𝑚
where g is the gravity velocity [9.807, 2].
𝑠

To make the specific impulse with the unit of second, the formula Eqn. (8)

divided by a gravity velocity, and substitute the Eqn. (2) into Eqn. (8), the Isp

can be expressed as Eqn. (9)

v𝑒𝑥
I𝑠𝑝 = (9)
𝑔

where v𝑒𝑥 is the effective exhaust velocity [m/s].

1.2.3 Thruster mass utilization efficiency and thruster efficiency

The mass utilization efficiency of the thruster is considered as the ratio of

the ionized gas propellant, which is primarily formed as the ion mass, and the

unionized gas propellant.

For singly charged ions, Eqn. (10) is shown [3].

𝑚̇ і 𝐼𝑏 𝑀𝑖
ɳ𝑚 (%) = = (10)
𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑒𝑚̇ 𝑝

where 𝑚̇ і is the ion mass flow rate [kg/s], 𝑀𝑖 is the ion mass [kg], e is the

electric charge [C], and the I𝑏 is the ion beam current [A].

The thruster efficiency is defined as the product of propellant utilization

efficiency and energy efficiency, which is produced by the thruster divided by

the total input power of the thruster. The general thruster efficiency is shown as

Eqn. (11).
1
𝑚̇ v 2
2 𝑝 𝑒𝑥
ɳ 𝑇 (%) = (11)
𝑃𝑇

where 𝑃𝑇 is the total input power of the thruster.

In an ion thruster, the kinetic energy is generated from the beam power,

and the electrical efficiency is shown as Eqn. (12).

5
 𝑃𝑏 𝐼𝑏 𝑉𝑏 𝐼𝑏 𝑉𝑏
ɳ𝑒 (%) = = = (12)
𝑃𝑇 𝑃𝑇 𝐼𝑏 𝑉𝑏 +𝑃𝑇

where 𝑉𝑏 is a net voltage that accelerates ions [V], and⁡ 𝑃𝑏 is the ion beam

power [W].

The thruster efficiency of any electric propulsion thruster can be transformed

from Eqn (11) into Eqn. (13).

𝑇2
ɳ 𝑇 (%) = (13)
2𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑃𝑇

1.2.4 Thrust-to-power ratio

This parameter is the direct ratio of the thrust and the total power, which

the equation is shown as Eqn. (14).

𝑇 𝑚̇ 𝑝 v𝑒𝑥
= (14)
𝑃𝑇 𝑃𝑇

where Thrust-to-power ratio has a unit of newton forces per watts (N/W), but

some ion thrusters are written as the mini-newton forces per kilo-watts

(mN/kW).

6
1.3 Space Electric propulsion

Various forms of electrical propulsion can produce sufficient thrust for satellite

missions. These forms of propulsion are classified by the plasma acceleration

mechanism and can be divided into the following categories: (1) electro-

thermal propulsion, (2) electromagnetic propulsion, and (3) electrostatic

propulsion.

The specific impulse and total thrust are crucial factors used to evaluate

thruster performance [1]. These indicators are used to select an electric

propulsion system that satisfies mission requirements. Electro-thermal

propulsion has higher thrust but lower specific impulse. Pulsed plasma thrusters

(PPTs) are a type of electromagnetic propulsion with a higher specific impulse

but lower thrust than electro-thermal thrusters. The gridded ion thruster, a form

of electrostatic propulsion, has a higher specific impulse than both PPT and

electro-thermal thrusters. The summarization of the electric propulsion is

shown in Figure 2 [4].

7
 Figure 2 Electric propulsion in space propulsion [4].

1.3.1 Electro-thermal propulsion

Thrusters in this category heat gas with a high-temperature heating source in

the thruster chamber. The gas propellant is evaporated and ionized to become a

plasma. The plasma and hot gas are accelerated by a nozzle structure to increase

the exhaust velocity. These thrusters have a lower specific impulse compared

with other types of electric thrusters. For example, the resisto-jet uses a resistive

heating source to generate the plasma and thrust with a specific impulse of 200

– 700 s. A typical resisto-jet configuration is shown in Figure 3 [5].

8
 Figure 3 Configuration of the resisto-jet [5].

The peak specific impulse of the various propellants used in the resistojet

has been measured for nitrogen gas at 191.6 s, ammonia at 342 s, and hydrogen

gas at 686.9 s for powers ranging from 300 to 1000 W [6].

9
 An arcjet, which provides a high current arc to heat the propellant before

it passes through the nozzle, is another type of electro-thermal thruster. The

illustration of the Arcjet system is shown in Figure 4 [7]. The specific impulse

of an arcjet is 400–900 s in a kilowatt-level power system. The discharge

performance depends on the specific gas environment, which can be nitrogen

or air. The discharge performance with different situations is shown in Figure

5 [7].

Figure 4 Arcjet system illustration [7].

10
 (a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 5 (a) Arcjet picture capture region (b) the discharge process in

Nitrogen fluid (c) the discharge process in air-fluid [7].

1.3.2 Electromagnetic propulsion

A PPT is a typical example of electromagnetic propulsion. A pulsed

11
current arc is used to ablate solid propellant in the ignition section to ionize a

portion of the propellant, generating plasma. An electromagnetic force (i.e., the

Lorentz force) is generated to accelerate the plasma to a high exhaust velocity

within the high-potential field in the thruster. The typical geometry of the PPT

is shown in Figure 6 [8].

The PPT can provide a specific impulse of 600–2000 s. Compared with

other electromagnetic thrusters, PPTs have lower thruster performance because

of the thruster design and method of propellant utilization.

Figure 6 A type of the Pulsed Plasma Thruster [8].

Another form of electromagnetic propulsion, the vacuum arc thruster

(VAT), can achieve 1 µN∙ s/pulse for individual impulses, a thrust-to-power

ratio of approximately 10 µN/W, and a specific impulse of 1000 – 3000 s. A

12
VAT was used for the Illinois Observing NanoSatellite for attitude control and

station keeping, and the schematic of the micro vacuum arc thruster design is

shown in Figure 7 [9].

Figure 7 Schematic of the vacuum arc thruster [9].

1.3.3 Electrostatic propulsion

In electrostatic propulsion, a plasma is generated in the chamber and

accelerated in an electrostatic field. In a gridded ion thruster, the plasma may

be accelerated through several bias grids, creating a high-potential drop that

attracts ions from the plasma to generate thrust. A neutralizer is placed

downstream of the ion thruster to neutralize the potential of the ion beam. A

negative charge would build up on a thruster without a neutralizer, which would

cause ions to be drawn back to the thruster, reducing thrust and causing erosion

13
on the spacecraft. This ion thruster has a potential thrust efficiency of 60% to

80% and a specific impulse of 1500 to 5000 s. A typical ion thruster design is

shown in Figure 8 [10].

Figure 8 Typical ion thruster diagram [10].

The grid system is designed to minimize ion impingement on the screen

grid and attract the maximum number of ions from the plasma by using

acceleration grids with high transparency. Typically, grid systems consist of two

or three grids. In a two-grid system, a positive potential is applied to the first

grid, and a negative potential is applied to the second grid. For a three-grid

system, the first grid has a positive potential, and the second has a negative

potential; these two grids generate a potential drop that accelerates ions. The

third grid is called the “deceleration grid” and has a low positive potential. The

ion optics system is shown in Figure 9 [3].

14
 Figure 9 The potential setting of the ion optics system [3].

Grid transparency is a crucial indicator of the performance of grid systems

because of the effects of the aperture size of the grids. One design for a

miniature gridded ion thruster with gaps of 1 mm between each grid was

developed using three-dimensional (3D) printing stainless steel. The gap

between each grid was 1 mm and shown in Figure 10 [11].

15
 Figure 10 A design of the ion optics system [11].

The neutralizer is typically a hollow cathode heated on the basis of the

work function of the insert material to emit electrons. The hollow cathode also

generates the plasma and uses either ions or an electrostatic field to attract

electrons from the neutralizer. Hollow cathodes typically consist of insert

material, a heater, a heater shield, insulators, and the cathode tube. A hollow

cathode is designed and shown in Figure 11 [11].

16
 Figure 11 Hollow cathode and explode view diagram [11].

The Hall thruster is another type of electrostatic ion propulsion that uses

the Hall effect to accelerate ions by producing an external magnetic field

perpendicular to the primary electric field between the anode and neutralizer

cathode. The Hall effect causes electrons to collide with the neutral propellant

to generate plasma in the discharge chamber. The primary electric field then

accelerates this plasma to produce thrust. Hall thrusters can produce a wide

range of thrusts from 0.01 to 2000 mN, with a specific impulse between 1500

and 2000 s. Hall thruster efficiency is between 30% and 50% lower than the

efficiency of gridded ion thrusters because of the high power requirements of

Hall thrusters. A typical Hall thruster design is shown in Figure 12 [3].

17
 Figure 12 A schematic of Hall thruster [9].

In all the groups of space propulsion, the comparison of the advantages

and disadvantages among these typical thrusters is shown in Table 1 [12].

18
 Table 1 Comparison of the different electric propulsion [12].

Type Advantages Disadvantages Comments

Low
Direct heating of efficiency; erosion
High-thrust
Arcjet gas; low voltage; at high power; low
needs the power of
(electro- inert propellant; Isp; high current;
100k/w or more.
thermal) relatively high heat loss; more
Operational
thrust complex power
condition

Simple Low thrust;

Pulsed plasma device; low power; Teflon reaction
thruster(PPT) solid propellant; products are toxic, Operational
(electromagnetic) no zero-g effects maybe corrosive;
on propellant inefficient
Complex
power conditioning;
High specific
high voltages;
Ion propulsion impulse; high Flown in
single propellant
(electrostatic) efficiency; inert satellites
only; low thrust per
propellant
unit area; heavy
power supply
Desirable Isp
single
range; relatively
propellant; high
Hall thruster simple power Operational
beam divergence;
conditioning; inert
erosion
propellant

19
1.4 CubeSat Application

Recently, there are multiple designed missions for space application

achieved by the CubeSat, such as Earth observation imagery, weather data

analysis, or even Lunar orbiting. The dimension of the CubeSat is defined by

Puig-Suari of California State Polytechnic University and Bob Twiggs of

Stanford in 1999. To make the satellite system buildable and testable, it is

determined as a cubic structure of ten centimeters [13].

Starlink is an example prosperous plan to establish the satellite internet

constellation, and it will improve our network coverage, data speed, and

satellites development. It launches numerous small satellites by Falcon 9

rockets, into low earth orbit 550 kilometers above Earth’s surface. The ion

thrusters are equipped on the Starlink satellites to maneuver the orbit, and it is

the first ion thruster that utilizes krypton as the propellant. Therefore, the

development of mini-satellites (mass under 500 kg) has significant economic

benefits, and the space industry has become commercial for various countries.

Due to the CubeSat volume, weight, and power supply system limitation,

CubeSat has to carry on a miniature thruster to accomplish the mission. Hence,

a high-performance miniature thruster is an imperative selection for the mission

requirement.

The PRoximate Object Close Flyby with Optical Navigation (PROCYON)

mission is a low-cost project to challenge the deep space exploration mission

by developing the 50 kg-class microsatellites by the cooperation of JAXA

20
(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and the University of Tokyo (UT).

PROCYON is a 70 kg spacecraft using the combination of a miniature ion

thruster and Cold-gas thruster with sharing a propellant supply system, and the

configuration of PROCYON is shown in Figure 13 [14]. The ion thruster can

provide an average thrust of 346 µN with operating for 223 hours.

21
 Figure 13 (a) Top view and (b) bottom view of PROCYON

microsatellite [14].

LunarCube is a 6U CubeSat platform to be used in the Lunar IceCube

mission that can enter lunar orbit from geostationary orbit under its own power.

The LunarCube is designed with sufficient delta-v to perform the translunar

injection and achieve lunar capture. The platform includes a 60 W class

miniature RF ion thruster providing 1.3 mN of thrust and a specific impulse of

3250 s. The thruster differs from typical ion thrusters with gas propellants in

that it uses a solid iodine propellant. Long missions require high–specific

impulse thrusters. The design of the 6U CubeSat and the sections of the 6U

CubeSat is shown in Figure 14 [2].

22
 Figure 14 (a) The design of 6U CubeSat (b) The sectional drawing of 6U

CubeSat [2].

Electric propulsion provides sufficient thrust for orbital changes and for

station keeping for satellites in low Earth orbit that would otherwise slowly fall

to Earth because of air resistance. The classification of the satellites is shown in

Table 2.

23
 Table 2 Classification of Satellites by Mass.

Satellites type mass(kg)

Large satellites More than 1,000

Medium-sized satellites 500－1,000

Mini-satellite 100－500

Microsatellite 10－100

Nanosatellite 1－10

Picosatellite Less than 1

The power budget for the CubeSat is a major constraint. The electric

propulsion method must balance the specific impulse, power requirements, and

size. CubeSat power is a function of the size of the satellite’s solar panels; thus,

the size of the CubeSat also determines its power budget.

With the same required power of Resisto-jets and ion thrusters, ion

thrusters have the benefit of providing a higher specific impulse. The Resisto-

jets required a higher power demand than pulsed plasma thrusters with the same

specific impulse shown in Figure 15 [15].

24
 Figure 15 Applications of electric propulsion systems [15].

The thrust range, specific impulse, thruster efficiency, and the utilized

propellants are essential to express the performance among different types of

electric propulsion. The comparison of the electric propulsion is shown in Table

3 [12]. The ion thruster has a desired specific impulse in the range of 1500－

5000 s, thrust (0.01－200 mN), high thruster efficiency (60－80 %).

25
 Table 3 Comparison of the electric propulsion [12].

Thruster
Thrust Specific Typical
Type Efficiency
range (mN) impulse (sec) propellants
(%)

Resistojet NH3, N2H4,

200－300 200－350 65－90
(thermal) H2

Arcjet NH3, N2H4,

200－1000 400－1000 30－50
(thermal) H2, N2

Solid pulsed
0.05－10 600－2000 10 Teflon
plasma(PPT)

Xenon,

Ion engine 0.01－200 1500－5000 60－80 Krypton ,Arg

on

Hall thruster 0.01－2000 1500－2000 30－50 Xenon ,Argon

Magnetoplas
Xenon,
ma dynamic 0.001－2000 2000－5000 30－50
Argon, Li, H2
(MPD)

26
1.5 Motivation and purpose

As the topic of my thesis Development of a miniature radio-frequency ion

thruster with Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source for Space Propulsion,

the research of developing the electric propulsion system and focusing on

designing a prototype miniature ion thruster for the 6U CubeSat application is

required to meet the goal. The goal of the RF ion thruster is to provide the

capability of the CubeSat to alter orbit with required thrust and even deep space

exploration. However, the performance of the RF ion thruster, including thrust

range, specific impulse, thruster efficiency, and mass utilization efficiency, has

to meet the requirement of the CubeSat application. The accomplishment of the

RF ion thruster associated with the process diagram is shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16 The procedure of RF ion thruster development.

27
 The whole system will be tested in the vacuum chamber with a pressure

between 10-4 ―10-5 (torr). First of all, built an RF power source for the RF ion

thruster to ionize the gas propellant into a plasma. The pattern of ion behaviors

and acceleration grids model can be provided by the SIMION simulation to

facilitate ion optics design for ion thrusters. Next, build the experiment to verify

the ion thruster system and confirm the characteristic of the plasma source,

thrust efficiency, and thrust performance. Ultimately, a Langmuir probe will be

installed to measure the electron temperature and plasma density [16]. The

faraday cup will be integrated to measure the ion beam current of the ion

thruster. Eventually, the ICP source's characteristics and the ion beam's

performance will be evaluated by the measurement systems.

28
CHAPTER 2 RF ION THRUSTER
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Discharge chamber

The discharge chamber of the RF ion thruster is made of quartz to benefit

the visualization of the plasma generation and RF transmittance. The discharge

chamber is the region where the plasma is persistently generated. First, the inert

gas will be injected with a steady and small mass flow rate into the chamber

and will absorb the radio-frequency wave. Hence, if the energy level is high

enough for the gas atom to be ionized, the inert gas will turn into a group of

ions and electrons, which is called plasma. The geometry of the RF ion thruster

is also an important factor to consider because the size of the discharge chamber

is a parameter to determine the plasma performance. It is implied that the

different length of the discharge chamber shows different performance as the

same operating frequency to determine the discharge loss in the discharge

chamber [17].

29
2.2 RF plasma source

Several methods of generating plasma sources in the discharge chamber

of an ion thruster have been developed. RF ion sources can be classified as

follows: (1) capacitively coupled plasma (CCP), (2) helicon plasma, and (3)

inductively coupled plasma (ICP). These plasma sources have some similarities;

they can generate plasma for low gas pressures of <10−4 (torr) and are supplied

by RF power at 13.56 MHz.

Godyak et al. studied parallel-plate RF discharge for a CCP source [18].

The CCP source had good plasma uniformity and could be constructed with

only two electrode plates in a gas discharge chamber. The configuration is

shown in Figure 17 [19]. However, the plasma density of the CCP source is

low at low gas pressures, and the plasma can cause erosion on the metal plates

because of direct contact between the plates and plasma.

Figure 17 The diagram of the capacitively coupled plasma system [19].

30
 Helicon wave plasmas are generated by radial Trivelpiece–Gould waves

that couple with helicon waves to transfer energy into the plasma, and the

configuration of the helicon ion thruster is shown in Figure 18 [20].

Figure 18 Construction of the helicon ion thruster [20].

The advantage of the helicon plasma is that the electrodes do not contact

the plasma in the gas discharge chamber and that it has a high plasma density

at low gas pressures. The helicon wave plasma requires an axial magnetic field

and a unique antenna design, which is shown in Figure 19 [20].

31
 Figure 19 A double saddle antenna design of the helicon plasma source

[20].

The inductively coupled plasma has the profit of the higher plasma density,

simple solenoid coil design, and no erosion electrodes to degrade the lifetime

of the thruster. The details of the inductively coupled plasma generation

mechanism will be introduced in sections 2-2. In conclusion, we decide to

choose the inductively coupled plasma with several determining factors, and

the comparison of these plasma sources is shown in Table 4.

32
 Table 4 Comparison of the plasma sources.

type Advantages Disadvantages Common

Relatively
plasma
lower plasma
Capacitively uniformity 13.56 Mega-
density;
coupled plasma ; Simple Hertz
Erosion
construction
electrodes;

Relatively
Complex
higher plasma
antenna; 13.56 Mega-
Helicon plasma density;
External Hertz
No erosion
magnetic field
electrodes

Relatively

higher plasma

density;
Inductively Plasma non- 13.56 Mega-
No erosion
coupled plasma uniformity Hertz
electrodes;

Simple solenoid

coil design

33
2.3 Inductively coupled plasma (ICP)
source

Figure 20 The electromagnetic spectrum with various frequencies [21].

In Figure 20, the range of application frequency can be divided into three

sections [21]. The first region in kilohertz range frequency is widely used in

industrial induction heating, for example, which induces the metal material at

a very high temperature with eddy current heating to forge the metal into the

desired shapes. The second region in mega-Hertz range frequency is used to

apply the AM radio, FM radio, and RF plasma. The third region in gigahertz

range frequency is selected by mobile phone communication frequency and

microwave plasma and radar detection.

34
 ICP has high plasma densities, a simple solenoid coil design, and long

lifetimes because of their lack of electrode erosion. ICP sources are frequently

used in semiconductor manufacturing, sputtering, and plasma treatments [22].

ICP is a high-density plasma with high mass utilization efficiency and low

power consumption. The 13.56-MHz band is an industrial, scientific, and

medical (ISM) radio band; these bands are not used in global

telecommunications and are reserved for ISM use. The 13.56-MHz ISM band

is used to operate RF ion thrusters in space applications.

The geometry of the RF ion thruster is related to the thruster’s antenna

type. Their antennae are solenoids for cylindrical discharge chambers or planes

for rectangular discharge chambers. Solenoid antennae are wrapped around the

discharge chamber for several turns, and planar antennae are installed at the top

of the discharge chamber shown in Figure 21 [18].

35
 Figure 21 The solenoid type of the antenna [18].

The mechanism of ICP is based on Ampère’s law (for a solenoid coil); that

is, variations in the current create a magnetic field. The alternating current

creates an alternating magnetic field given by Eq. (15) [23].

Φ𝐵 = (𝜇0 𝐼𝑐 𝑁) (15)

where Φ𝐵 is the magnetic field [H/m], µ0 is the permeability constant, equal

to 4π × 10−7 [𝑁 ∙ 𝐴−2 ], I𝑐 is the coil current [A], and N is the number of coil

turns per unit length [1/m]. The formula indicates that the magnetic field

depends on the current and the coil turns if the other values remain constant.

According to Faraday’s Law, an alternating magnetic field creates an

electric field or electromagnetic force (i.e., electromagnetic induction), given

by Eq. (16) [23].

36
 𝜕Φ𝐵
∇×𝐸 =− (16)
𝜕𝑡

where E is the electric field, and the partial differential of the magnetic field is

the rate at which the field changes. The formula indicates that the

electromagnetic force depends on the number of coil turns, the RF frequency,

and the magnetic field amplitude. In an RF band, the electromagnetic wave

causes skin effects and forms a skin-thick layer near the surface of the plasma

[18]. The energizing mechanisms of ICP generation are the collisionless and

stochastic heating processes. In the collisionless heating process, electrons

receive kinetic energy from an alternating inductive electric field, resulting in

ionization. The ionized electrons collide with the gas propellant, and the

collision causes an avalanche phenomenon. The stochastic heating process

leads to the acceleration and thermalization of electrons. To overcome the

breakdown voltage associated with a neutral gas particle’s mean free path, the

plasma generation environment requires a high-voltage electric field and low

pressure. The ICP source is typically an inert gas used as the propellant. Inert

gasses have good performance for electronic polarizing because they can

absorb high-frequency electromagnetic energy. Argon or xenon gas are

commonly used in ion thrusters, and many use xenon gas because its higher

atomic mass increases thrust and specific impulse. However, xenon gas is not

always used because of its high cost.

37
2.4 Acceleration grid system

The acceleration girds system is integrated, usually called the ion optic

system, downstream of RF ion thrusters source to accelerate the ions and

generate the thrust. For example, Busek 3-cm RF Ion Thruster (BRFIT-3) and

Busek Iodine-Fueled Ion Thruster (BIT-3) with the size of the grids of 3cm are

all mounted in two grid system. The potential of the screen grid is applied in

the range of 1500V－2000V, and the acceleration grid is set up in the range of

-100V to -200V. The configuration of the acceleration grid system in the Busek

ion thruster is shown in Figure 22 [24].

Figure 22 An ICP ion thruster configuration [24].

38
 For another example, the RIT-μX thruster is built by the Ariane Group in

European research with two grids system. The potential input to the screen grid

is a positive high voltage to define beam potential, and the acceleration grid is

applied a negative high voltage to enhance ion extraction and avoid back

streaming of electrons into the thruster. The two grid system of the RIT-μX

thruster in Ariane Group in Europe is shown in Figure 23 [25].

Figure 23 RIT-μX ion thruster construction [25].

39
2.5 Neutralizer

The neutralizer in an ion thruster is used to neutralize the potential of the

ion beam and the potential of the thruster. A neutralizer has a simple design;

wires are heated by a current to emit electrons. The Richardson–Duschman

equation is used to describe the emission behavior, as in Eqn. (17).

−𝑞∅
2
J=𝐴×𝑇 ×𝑒 𝑘𝑇 (17)

where J is the current density of the emission [mA/mm2], 𝐴 is Richardson’s

constant [mA/mm2∙K2], 𝑇 is the temperature [K], q is the electron charge [C],

∅ is the work function of the cathode material in electronvolts, and k is the

Boltzmann constant [J/K].

In Eqn. (17), the required current density can be achieved by increasing

the temperature of the material and by supplying more power to the material to

increase the value of the work function. Typically, a tungsten filament is used

to emit electrons, and the work function of tungsten is 4.54 eV [26]. In one

study, a tungsten filament neutralizer (Sunnet Systems ) was mounted

downstream of an ion thruster shown in Figure 24 [27].

40
 Figure 24 Tungsten filament neutralizer [27].

Busek constructed carbon nanotube field emission (CNTFE) cathodes for

a 1-cm RF ion thruster for space applications. The CNTFE cathodes emitted

between 2 μA and 2 mA at voltages between 100 and 600 V (ambient pressure

≤10−4 torr). These CNTFE cathodes were validated through tests of vibration,

ultraviolet light, propellant exposure, and lifetime beyond 13,000 hours at 100

μA of emission current. A Busek CNTFE cathode is shown in Figure 25 [28].

41
 Figure 25 Busek Carbon Nanotube Field Emission [28].

To evaluate the performance of the CNTFE cathode, the bias of the anode

was set to 50 V relative to the ground to attract electrons. The emission current

was generated by various voltages between the cathode and a gate consisting

of a metal screen grid. The cathode consists of a carbon nanotube, and the

concept of CNTFE is shown in

Figure 26 [28].

42
 Figure 26 CNTFE diagram [28].

As an alternative to conventional cathodes, another type of neutralizer

called an “orifice hollow cathode” is efficient for applications in space. The

elemental components of the orifice hollow cathode are (1) the fuel supplement,

(2) an insert material with a low work function, (3) radiation shielding, (4)

heater wire, (5) orifice plates, and (6) the keeper electrode. First, the propellant

is placed in the hollow cathode, and the heater wrapped around the cathode tube

heats the insert material to stimulate electron emission and heat the propellant.

Next, in the cathode-to-keeper region, the keeper electrode supplies positively

biased electrons from the orifice of the insert region. Finally, the ion beam

generated by the thruster is neutralized by electrons emitted from the hollow

cathode in the coupling region. The structure of the orifice hollow cathode is

shown in Figure 27 [27].

43
 Figure 27 Orifice hollow cathode [27].

A 1 cm–diameter RF micro cathode (BRFC-1) was used as a neutralizer

for the Busek ion thruster shown in Figure 28 [29]. The thruster requirements

were power consumption below 10 W, low propellant usage [<0.1 standard

cubic centimeters per minute (SCCM) for Xe], and up to 16 mA of electron

current emission

Figure 28 Schematic design of ICP cathode [29].

Electron extraction for neutralization in the thruster is based on a concept

known as a “plasma bridge.” A plasma bridge is a passive mechanism that

occurs in thrusters with sufficient charged particle density between the ion

beam and cathode plume. If the particle density is sufficient, the positive

potential of the ion beams can ionize the cathode’s electrons to achieve self-

44
neutralization [30]. An example engineering model BRFC-1 with xenon

propellant is shown in Figure 29 [30].

Figure 29 EM BIT-1 RF Cathode (left), and the fire testing with an

external anode plate (Right) [30].

45
2.6 RF ion thruster

ICP has various advantages; they are high-density plasmas on the order of

1016 m −3, have no electrode erosion, and have low power consumption. An

ICP RF ion thruster has a high specific impulse (>3000 s), high propellant

utilization (>85%), high electrical efficiency (>80%), and a long operational

lifetime [31]. However, some researchers have built micro-ion thrusters with a

power of approximately 10 W to reduce the thruster size for the satellite. ICP

RF ion thrusters can be fabricated at sizes as small as 1 cm [32]. Thus, ICP RF

ion thrusters are the leading candidate for electrostatic propulsion systems for

CubeSats. A 1-cm micro-RF ion thruster was developed that could provide 60

μN of thrust, had a specific impulse of approximately 1500s and had 30%

utilization efficiency with low power consumption (10–20 W). The

components of the 1 cm micro RF ion thruster were a CNTFE cathode, a piezo

microvalve, an RF generator, and a power processing unit shown in Figure 30

[32]. The testing of the 1cm RF ion thruster with the xenon propellant and

CNTFE cathode are shown in Figure 31 [32].

46
 Figure 30 The 1cm-class micro radio-frequency ion thruster [32].

Figure 31 Fire testing of the 1cm RF ion thruster [32].

RIT-µX radio-frequency ion propulsion was developed by ArianeGroup.

The RIT-μX thruster is optimal for orbital maneuvering for science missions

47
that require high precision. The RIT-µX ion thruster can provide 50–500 µN of

thrust, has a specific impulse of 500–3000 s, and has a power consumption of

less than 50 W shown in Figure 32 [25]. Because it weighs less than 1 kg, it is

suitable for 10-kg satellites.

Figure 32 RIT µX radio-frequency ion thruster [25].

The RIT-µX ion thruster has a beam current of 1 mA and a beam voltage

of 900 V; the corresponding thrust is 5 μN. The thruster has a gas inlet region,

RF antenna, discharge chamber, neutralizer, and extraction system shown in

Figure 33 [33].

48
 Figure 33 RIT µX ion thruster configuration (top) and fire testing

(bottom) [33].

The iodine-fueled BIT-3 RF ion thruster is another well-known design,

with dimensions of 180 mm × 88 mm × 102 mm and a wet mass of 3 kg. It uses

an iodine propellent with solid-state storage, which is superior to conventional

inert gasses such as argon and xenon. The BIT-3 RF ion thruster can provide

49
0.65 – 1.15 mN of thrust and has a specific impulse of 1200－2100s with xenon

and an input power of 55 – 75 W shown in Figure 34 [34].

Figure 34 BIT-3 RF Ion Thruster [34].

The BIT-3 RF ion thruster can successfully operate with different

propellants. The use of the BIT-3 RF ion thruster with a Busek radio-frequency

cathode (BRFC-1) neutralizer has been experimentally demonstrated with both

iodine and xenon propellants shown in Figure 35 [30].

50
 Figure 35 BIT-3 Operating on Xenon (Left) and Iodine (Right) [30].

We compared these three different RF ion thrusters by calculating the

characteristic parameter as mass flow rate, the thrust, specific impulse, thrust

to power ratio, and the speed variation, and is shown in Table 5.

51
 Table 5 The comparison of different RF ion thrusters.

1cm micro
RIT µX
type RF ion BIT-3 [34]
[25]
propulsion [32]

Mass flow
4 17 55.22−55.82
rate [μg/s]

Thrust [mN] 0.06 0.05−0.5 0.65−1.15

Specific
1500 300−3000 1200−2100
impulse [s]

Thrust-to-

power radio 6 1−10 11.82−15.33

[mN/kW]

Thrust
4 0.15−15 7−16
efficiency [%]

System power
10 < 50 55-75
[W]

Dimensions
1 cm class φ78×76 180×88×102
[mm]

Propellant Iodine, solid

Xenon Xenon
type storage

52
2.7 Measurement system

2.7.1 Langmuir Probe

Langmuir probe is a penetrated measurement to insert the metal wire into

the plasma, and the colliding charged particles on the probe will induce a

current flow measured by the oscilloscope. The power supply is connected to

the Langmuir probe to apply the sweeping voltage for measuring the I-V curve.

In the Langmuir probe system, the filtration of the circuit plays a significant

role in the measurement system. The environmental intrusion should be filtered

out to benefit the measurement of an accurate signal. Moreover, a better wires

connection of the measurement system is an essential factor of noise blocking.

If metal parts are exposed in the surrounding, the interference signal will be

captured by metal parts to impact the measured current. Eventually, a faraday

field can be integrated to block the noise of the Langmuir probe system. There

are three types of the Langmuir probe as a single, double, and triple probe

shown in Figure 36 [35]. Different types of Langmuir probes can be used for

measuring different plasma. For example, the steady condition plasma is

generally measured by the single and the double probe, and a triple probe can

be usually used to measure as an instantaneous time of plasma source. In this

research, a double probe is utilized for diagnosing steady plasma. The I-V curve

is a chart measured by the Langmuir probe to determine the plasma

characteristic and performance.

53
 (a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 36 Schematic of (a) single probe circuit (b) double probe circuit

(c)triple probe circuit [35].

54
 A Langmuir probe has a common structure that required only an exposed

electrode and insulating support for measuring the thruster in electric

propulsion. The Langmuir probe is usually made of tungsten, graphite

electrodes with insulating materials of ceramics shown in Figure 37 [35].

Figure 37 The structure of the Langmuir probe [35].

55
2.7.2 Faraday Cup
A designed Faraday cup, which is named after Michael Faraday who

theorized ions first around 1830, is used to capture the charged particles in the

vacuum environment. Since the ion beam is impinging to the conductive

Faraday cup, an equivalent current has been measured to determine the amount

of the ions. Therefore, a resulting current can be estimated by the oscilloscope

to diagnose the current performance during the time.

For example, a Faraday cup is designed for the ignition test of ionic liquid

ion source (ITIS) electrospray thruster. It is made of two-inch of copper pipes

with the bolt connection for the measurement of beam current and the structure

of the Faraday cup is shown in Figure 38 [36].

Figure 38 A design Faraday cup [36].

56
CHAPTER 3 EXPERIMENTAL
SETUP

3.1 Schematic of the ion thruster system

In the development of miniature RF ion thruster, it can be divided into four

subsystems in the experimental apparatus: (1) gas feeding system, (2) radio-

frequency system, (3) ion optics system, and (4) measurement system. The

configuration of the RF ion thruster is shown in Figure 39.

Figure 39 Experimental construction of a miniature RF ion thruster

system.

57
3.2 A gas feeding system and discharge
chamber design

The vacuum chamber was stainless steel, 63.7 cm long, and 55 cm in

diameter. The main pump (PTS06003 UNIV, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara,

CA, United States) has an effective pumping speed of 500 l/s and can reduce

the pressure of the vacuum chamber to 5 × 10−2 torr or lower. The turbo-

molecular pump (HIPace 700, Pfeiffer Vacuum, Asslar, Germany) had an

effective pumping speed of 685 l/s and can reduce the pressure to 5 × 10−5 torr.

The experiment was conducted at pressures of 5 × 10−4 torr or lower. The

vacuum system is shown in Figure 40.

Figure 40 Experimental vacuum system.

58
 The discharge chamber is made of a quartz tube with a length of 7 cm and

a diameter of 38 mm, shown in Figure 41. Two ignition wires upstream of the

discharge chamber are inserted into the discharge chamber. The argon gas

propellant is supplied from the gas tank by the mass flow controller into the

discharge chamber via the gas supply tube. An argon mass flow meter, in which

operating region from 0 SCCM to 10 SCCM, is used to operate in the gas

feeding system. If we have to increase the mass flow rate into RF ion thruster,

it will need the bigger mass flow meter to replace the argon mass flowmeter. A

mass flow meter for nitrogen, in which operating region from 0 s.c.c.m to 200

s.c.c.m, is chosen to operate in the region of 10 s.c.c.m to 20 s.c.c.m. Therefore,

the mass flow rate has to be calibrated by the dry gas meter from 10 s.c.c.m to

20 s.c.c.m into the real mass flow rate suppling into the discharge chamber, and

shown in Table 6.

Figure 41 The design of the discharge chamber of the ICP plasma

source.

59
Table 6 Calibration mass flow rate.

Mass flow rate (set) Mass flow rate (calibrated)

10 17.3523

12 20.3611

14 23.3699

16 26.3787

18 29.3875

20 32.3963

60
3.3 Radio-frequency(RF) power system

The RF power system consists of four sections: (1) a direct current (DC)

section, (2) an RF power section, (3) an impedance-matching section, and (4)

a discharge section. A conceptual diagram of the RF power system is shown in

Figure 42.

Figure 42 The procedure diagram of the power system.

In the RF power region, a quartz oscillator generates a 13.56-MHz

sinusoidal signal. The sinusoidal signal is stabilized by a D flip-flop IC; this

component is critical to adjust unreliable signals from the quartz oscillator. The

13.56-MHz sinusoidal signal passes through a gate driver to reach the first state

amplifier. The power of the 13.56-MHz signal is amplified by a Class E power

61
amplifier circuit, which couples DC power and the alternating current signal

into a stable signal in terms of both frequency and power. In the RF ion thruster,

RF power is supplied to the antenna or solenoid coil to generate a high-

frequency electric field for plasma production. An impedance-matching circuit

between the RF power system and the load is required to prevent reflection

from high-frequency components (i.e., electromagnetic waves). If the power of

the reflected signal exceeds the tolerance of the electric components, a portion

of the power may be reflected in the high-frequency band. This reflection would

damage the electric components and quickly cause critical equipment failure.

Thus, in RF power applications, the balance between the reflected power and

output power is essential. Adjustment of the impendence matching network for

the circuit can also solve this problem.

The RF circuit consists of multiple ICs, and the circuit can supply a signal

with a fixed frequency of 13.56 MHz at 0 –100 W [37]. The antenna is a

solenoid coil wrapped around the discharge chamber. The solenoid coil had 85

turns, a diameter of 38 mm, a wire diameter of 0.9 mm, and a length of 6 cm.

The constructed ion thruster is shown in Figure 43.

Figure 43 Discharge chamber of the ICP plasma source.

62
3.4 Impedance matching circuit

Impedance matching in electric systems includes L-type, π-type, and T-

type matching circuits shown in Figure 44 [38].

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 44 (a) L-type (b) T-type (c)π-type [38].

63
 L-type matching circuits are simple and can be designed with basic

components. A functional L-type circuit for auto-matching can be easily

constructed by controlling the two variable components. However, L-type

circuits can only match plasma load impedance of less than 50 Ω. If the plasma

load impedance exceeds 50 Ω, the circuit weakly matches impedance for the

input power. If impedance matching is successful, the output power is

efficiently transferred to the plasma load. Impedance matching is used to

balance the reflected power and output power. Ideally, the impedance of the

plasma load is identical to that of the generator. All impedance-matching

circuits can be constructed using two standard components. A variable inductor

and variable capacitor are shown in Figure 45 [38].

Figure 45 L-type impedance matching [38].

Finally, option (e) of the L-type impedance matching network is chosen

for my ion thruster. The adjustment of these components has a sufficient impact

64
on the impedance matching, and the value of the variable inductor and the

variable capacitor must control in the range of the designed impedance

matching. The chosen variable inductor is operated in the range of 120nH―

220nH, and the variable capacitor is modified in the range of 81pF―986pF

shown in Table 7. For the final goal of the impedance, it provides the maximum

transfer power from the RF generator to the load, which consider as the

absorbed plasma power.

Table 7 The cases of L-type circuit (tested by the frequency of 1 MHz).

Inductance (220nH) Inductance (170nH) Capacitance (pF) Capacitance (pF)

Case 1 Case 7 922.7 985.6

Case 2 Case 8 810.1 804.3

Case 3 Case 9 651.4 628.2

Case 4 Case 10 462.3 432.6

Case 5 Case 11 383.2 250.2

Case 6 Case 12 200.3 81.1

65
3.5 Ion optics system and neutralizer design

3.5.1 Ion optics system simulation

SIMION, a software package for simulating charged particle optics, can

be used to calculate the trajectories of charged particles moving through

electromagnetic fields, which can facilitate the configuration of electric fields

and the investigation of ion optics systems. SIMION can be used for both two-

dimensional and 3D applications. To simulate ion beam trajectories, design

models for systems with two, three, and four grids were established. The screen

grid was designed to have a positive voltage of 5 V on the basis of typical

plasma potentials in space. The remaining one, two, or three acceleration grids

were set at higher negative voltages to accelerate ions and form an ion beam.

The shape and size of each aperture in the ion optics system were identical, and

the acceleration grids were designed to achieve maximum transparency. The

first model of a two-grid system consisted of a screen grid and acceleration grid

(Figure 46). The applied voltages were 5 and -2300 V, and the distance between

the screens was 6 mm.

66
 Figure 46 Schematic mesh design of two-grid system.

The second model had a screen grid and two acceleration grids (Figure

47), and the SIMION simulation used the following parameters: (1) the

voltages of the three grids (from left to right) were 5 (as the plasma potential in

space), -300, and -2100 V and (2) the distances between the grids (from left to

right) were 6 and 5 mm.

67
 Figure 47 Schematic mesh design of the three-grid system.

The third model had three acceleration grids and a screen grid (Figure 48),

and the SIMION simulation used the following parameters: (1) the voltages of

the four grids (from left to right) were 5 (as the plasma potential in space), 0,

−100, and −2100 V; (2) the distances between each grid (from left to right) were

1, 5, and 5 mm; and (3) the second grid was designed to ignite the RF ion

thruster with a high-voltage pulse between the screen grid and the second grid.

68
 Figure 48 Schematic mesh design of four-grid system.

The particle settings in SIMION were based on the RF ion thruster

conditions, and the initial particle parameters in SIMION were as follows

(Figure 49): (1) the number of particles was 106; (2) the mass of the particles

was 39.948 amu (i.e., the mass of argon); (3) the charge of the argon gas

particles was +1 e; (4) the line distribution was based on the diameter of the

discharge chamber; and (5) the ionic motion vector was along the x-axis.

69
Gaussian distributions are the most commonly used continuous probability

distributions in probability theory and statistical thermodynamics. In SIMION,

the Gaussian distribution for speed comprises the mean velocity, standard

deviation, and full width at half maximum (FWHM) in millimeters per

microsecond. The standard deviation of the argon particle speeds can be

calculated using Eqn. (18).

1
1/2 𝑐𝑚
𝑉𝑇𝑖 = 9.79 × 105 𝜇 −1/2 𝑇𝑖 [ ] = 9.79 × 105 × 39.948−2 ×
𝑠
1
300 2 𝑚
(11600) = 249.096[ 𝑠 ] (18)

The time of birth was 0, and the charge weighting factor was 1 to maintain the

conditions of the original system.

Figure 49 SIMION simulation setup of the particle group.

70
 Ion trajectory was calculated using the ion numbers captured at the wall

boundary. Figure 50 presents the results for the two-grid, three-grid, and four-

grid systems. An analysis of the grid systems revealed the position of the ions

on the boundary through a distribution of the number of ions with respect to the

y-direction of the wall boundary (red line) (Figure 51).

71
 (a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 50 Simulation results for ion trajectories in the (a) two-grid system (b)

three-grid system, and (c) four-grid system.

72
 (a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 51 Distribution of the ion beam of (a) two-grid system (b) three-grid

system, and (c) four-grid system.

73
 Three ion optics systems were constructed to evaluate the performance of

the RF ion thruster. The distribution of the simulated ion beam of the two-grid

system indicated that it was unsuitable for centralizing the ion beam; that is, the

ion beam distribution was only weakly concentrated at the center. Both the four-

grid and three-grid systems exhibited more concentration than did the two-grid

system. The four-grid system had the highest ion beam concentration, between

−10 and 10 mm. The simulations for both the four-grid and three-grid systems

produced two additional ion peaks on either side of the center. This result was

due to the high deflection of ions generated at the edge of the discharge chamber

by the high-negative-bias acceleration grids. On the basis of the simulation

results, the four-grid and three-grid systems were integrated into the RF ion

thrusters for the experiment.

3.5.2 Ion optics manufacturing production

The electrical grids of the optics system were made of stainless steel with

5-mm screw holes for installation. The screen grid was the minimum size. The

mesh holes of the screen grid were 0.1 mm, and the thickness of the screen grid

was 0.05 mm. The other grids were made of stainless steel but had 2-mm mesh

holes and a thickness of 1 mm on the basis of the SIMION simulation. The

electrical grids are shown in Figure 52.

74
 Figure 52 Acceleration grids.

Teflon rings were used as insulation between the pairs of electrical grids

because of its high dielectric strength (19.7 MV/mm), which can prevent

breakdown, and low outgassing in vacuum environments [39]. The insulated

Teflon rings are shown in Figure 53.

Figure 53 Insulated Teflon rings.

The grids, insulated Teflon plates, and PEEK screws were integrated into

the ion optics system. The ion optic system is shown in Figure 54.

75
 (a)

(b)
Figure 54 (a) Front and (b) back views of the ion optics system.

76
3.5.3 Neutralizer design
A tungsten filament was used to emit electrons to form a plasma bridge

and self-neutralize the miniature RF ion thruster. The filament was fixed

downstream of the electrostatic field to neutralize the ion beam and maintain

the thrust performance. The tungsten filament was constructed by mounting a

parallel array of five 60-mm-long tungsten filaments with diameters of 0.1 mm

shown in Figure 55.

Figure 55 A tungsten filament of the neutralizer design.

77
3.6 Measurement system

3.6.1 Langmuir Probe

By sweeping the voltage from negative to positive, a current-voltage

characteristic curve (I-V curve ) can be produced to determine the electron

temperature and plasma density. The I-V curve can be divided into three regions:

(1) an ion saturation current region, (2) an ion or electron repellant region, and

(3) an electron saturation current region.

In the ion saturation region, the probe was biased by the negative voltage

because all electrons were repelled, resulting in an electron current of 0 and the

collection of only positive ions. The ion saturation current is calculated using

Eqn. (19) [40].

𝑒(V𝑓 −V𝑠 )
I𝑖𝑠 = I𝑒𝑠 exp ( ), (19)
𝑘𝑇𝑒

where I𝑖𝑠 is the ion saturation current [A], I𝑒𝑠 is the electron saturation
current [A], V𝑓 is the floating potential [V],⁡ V𝑠 is the point voltage selected on

the curve [V], 𝑘 is the Boltzmann constant [J/K], and 𝑇𝑒 is the electron

temperature [K].

The I-V curve has a floating potential in the ion and electron repellant

regions where the net collected current is 0; that is, the electron and ion fluxes

are balanced. The slope of the I-V curve is calculated using Eqn. (20).
𝑑𝐼 𝑒
= −I𝑖𝑠 ( ) (20)
𝑑𝑉 2𝑘𝑇𝑒

A probe with a positive voltage bias can collect electrons only in the electron

saturation current region. The net current of the double probe is calculated using

78
Eqn. (21).
𝑒(V1 −V2 )
I = −I𝑖𝑠 tanh ⁡, (21)
2𝑘𝑇𝑒

where V1 is the voltage of probe1 [V], and V2 is the voltage of probe 2 [V].

The equation for plasma density is given by Eqn. (22) [41].

1 𝐼𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑖 1
𝑛0 = × ×( )2 ⁡ (22)
0.61 𝑒𝐴 𝑘𝑇𝑒

where 𝑛0 ⁡ is the plasma density [𝑚−3 ], A is the area of the Langmuir double

probe [𝑚2 ], and 𝑚𝑖 ⁡ is the ion mass of the propellant [kg].

In this study, a double probe was used to measure the electron temperature

and plasma density to characterize the continuous ICP source. The double

probe was unaffected by the plasma discharge while inserted in the plasma.

Because the double probe system has no well-defined ground, the net current

never exceeds the ion saturation current, minimizing disturbance in the

measurement. However, the double probe system may not represent the

distribution of bulk electrons in the discharge because each probe gathers only

high-energy electrons.

During the plasma measurement experiment, the Langmuir double probe

was used 10 mm from the exit of the RF ion thruster. The tip of the Langmuir

double probe is a molybdenum wire 0.3 mm in diameter and 100 mm in length.

The Langmuir double probe was connected to the RF filter to measure the I-V

curve. The RF passive filter is required to connect to the Langmuir probe and

suppress interference from RF fluctuation at a drive frequency of 13.56 MHz.

A passive RF filter circuit was built by using a 344pF capacitor and a 0.4μH

inductor, and high impedance occurs at the resonant frequency of 13.58 MHz

79
(±10%) [42]. In the RF passive filter system, the current was monitored as a

differential voltage across a 47-kΩ resistor by using current and voltage probes

shown in Figure 56.

Figure 56 RF passive filter.

80
3.6.2 Faraday cup
A Faraday cup was biased at a −25-V potential to repel electrons, and the

collected ions were measured. During the testing of the Faraday cup in the

experiment, the current passing through the resistor was captured by a

Rogowski probe and voltage probe. The hollow copper Faraday cup was placed

30 mm from the exit of the ion thruster. It had a length of 20 mm and a diameter

of 22 mm shown in Figure 57.

Figure 57 Faraday cup structure.

81
CHAPTER 4 PERFORMANCE OF
RF ION THRUSTER AND PLASMA
DIAGNOSTICS

4.1 Propellant Feeding System

The propellant feeding system consists of (1) the vacuum chamber flange,

(2) mass flow control, and (3) propellant tank. The flange prevents outgassing

by connecting the vacuum chamber to an external high-pressure flow channel.

The mass flow control consists of a flow meter, flow controller, filter, and ball

valve. The ball valve was installed to separate the high-pressure argon gas tank

from the downstream mass flow meter. The flow rate of the mass flow meter is

0–10 SCCM for argon gas. The high-pressure argon tank had a pressure

regulating valve set at 2 kgf/cm2; at this value, gas can be pushed downstream

to balance the pump flow rates. The propellant feeding system is shown in

Figure 58.

82
Figure 58 Propellant Feeding System.

83
4.2 Vacuum chamber test

After pumping the vacuum chamber for 2 hours, the chamber pressure is

detected by the pressure gauge as 5 × 10−4 ⁡ 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑟. The mass flow rate of argon

gas is operated under the setting range between 10 SCCM to 20 SCCM. The

relation between the chamber pressure and the mass flow rate is shown in

Figure 59.

Figure 59 Chamber pressure under different mass flow rates.

The conversion of the flow in standard cubic centimeters per minute

(SCCM) to other flow units for an ideal gas is necessary to evaluate thruster

84
performance. A mole of gas at standard pressure and temperature is Avogadro’s

number (6.02214179 × 1023 ) of particles at one atmosphere and 0ºC (273.15

K), which occupies 22.413996 liters. The conversion of the mass flow rate is

shown in Eqn. (22).

⁡ ⁡ ⁡ 1⁡ SCCM
6.02214179 × 1023 [𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠/𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒]
=
22.413996⁡ [liters/mole⁡ at⁡ STP] × 103 [cc/liter] × 60[s/min]
𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠
= 4.477962 × 1017 [ ]
𝑠
𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠
1⁡ SCCM = 4.477962 × 1017 [ ] × 1.660539 × 10−27 × 𝑀𝑎 × 106
𝑠
𝑚𝑔
= 7.43583 × 10−4 𝑀𝑎 ⁡ [ ] (23)
𝑠

where 𝑀𝑎 is the propellant mass in atomic mass units (AMU)

For Argon, 𝑀𝑎 = 39.948 , and a correction must be made for its

compressibility at standard temperature and pressure (STP), which changes the

mass flow rate by 0.99906. The mass flow rate for argon is shown in Eqn. (24).

1⁡ SCCM = 0.0297326[mg/s] (24)

85
4.3 RF Circuit performance

According to the size of the CubeSat, the RF circuit board has been

designed into a ten-centimeter square area by a printed circuit board (PCB)

design software, which is named Diptrace. Depending on the maximum

tolerance of the current, the routing of the PCB has different wire widths to

avoid damage to the board. The arrangement of the RF circuit is shown in

Figure 60.

Figure 60 RF Circuit layout in Diptrace.

Therefore, RF power circuit designed by Diptrace can be laid out to the

manufacturer to produce a well-insulated wire connection of the RF circuit with

soldering pins and surface. The completed RF circuit is shown in Figure 61.

86
 Figure 61 Completed RF circuit.

The impedance matching circuit is built by several variable capacitors and

an inductor, and shown in Figure 62. The impedance matching circuit was

trimmed to transfer the RF power into the solenoid coil to operate a reliable

performance of the RF power circuit during the experiment. Moreover, the

modification of the impedance matching circuit is essential for plasma

generation to decrease the reflection and instability of the RF power transferred

into the gas propellant.

87
 Figure 62 Impedance matching circuit.

After building modular circuit boards, we measured the RF power circuit

performance with the voltage signal with no load. The output of the RF power

circuit establishes the frequency of 13.56 mega-Hertz with an input DC power

of 16 watts and is shown in Figure 63. The signal of the RF power circuit shows

an unreliable voltage waveform with a maximum amplitude of 255V.

88
 Figure 63 Voltage output with no load.

Since we measured the voltage signal with the impedance matching circuit

as the 16 watts input power, RF power circuit performance with the voltage

signal with no load is shown in Figure 64. The result, which is compared to the

voltage signal of the RF power circuit performance without impedance

89
matching circuit shows that the impedance matching circuit increases the

stabilization of the voltage waveform and achieves a reliable performance.

Moreover, the modification of the impedance matching circuit is essential for

plasma generation to decrease the instability of the RF power supplied into the

plasma.

Figure 64 Voltage output with impedance matching.

90
4.4 RF plasma generation and
experimental results

4.4.1 Power calculation of plasma generation

After the pressure of the vacuum chamber was reduced to 5 × 10 −4 and

2−8 SCCM of argon gas was supplied to the discharge chamber, an ICP was

generated by providing 16 W of RF power to the solenoid coil. The generation

of the ICP is shown in Figure 65.

Figure 65 Discharge of the ICP source.

Because the solenoid coil is effectively an inductor load, the voltage

waveform leads the current waveform signal, resulting in a phase lag between

the current and voltage. The amplitudes of the current and voltage were

measured using an oscilloscope and were 672 mA and 194 V, respectively. The

waveforms with a frequency of 13.56 MHz are shown in Figure 66.

91
 Frequency:13.56MHz
Figure 66 Waveform of the solenoid coil.

Phase lag is calculated using the phase difference between the voltage and

current waveform. The equations for the voltage and current waveform are

given by Eqn. (25) and Eqn. (26), respectively.

V(t) = V𝑚 × sin⁡(𝜔𝑡 + θV ) (25)

I(t) = ⁡ I𝑚 × sin⁡(𝜔𝑡 + θI ) (26)

where 𝜔 is the angular frequency [rad/s], t is the time [s], V𝑚 is the voltage

amplitude, I𝑚 is the current amplitude, θV is the phase shift of the voltage in

degrees, and θI is the phase shift of the current in degrees.

RF power transferred to an ICP source can be calculated using average

power using Eqn. (27), and the phase lag between the voltage and current is

calculated using Eqn. (28).

92
 1
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 = × V𝑚 × I𝑚 × cos ϑ (27)
2

ϑ = θ I − θV (28)
where 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 is the average power [W], V𝑚 is the voltage amplitude [V], I𝑚 is

the current amplitude [A], and ϑ⁡ is the phase lag [°] between the voltage and

the current waveform

The input power of the solenoid coil can be calculated by multiplying the

current and voltage signals over time. The input power will oscillate between

positive and negative with time. Integrating the power with respect to time

produced a value of 40.16 W shown in Figure 67.

Figure 67 The power performance of the solenoid coil.

By inputting the experimental values, integrated power, and phase lag into

Eqn. (27), the average power can be calculated using Eqn. (29).

93
 1 1
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 = × 𝑉 × 𝐼 × cos𝜃 = × 40.1608(𝑊) × cos(70.1°) = 6.83 (W)
2 2

(29)

During the ICP source generation experiment with a DC input of 40 V and

400 mA, the input power was transformed to RF power with a voltage of 35.2

V and a current of 400 mA. The DC-to-RF conversion efficiency can be

calculated using Eqn. (30), and the conversion efficiency of the RF power

circuit was approximately 88%.

𝑃𝑎𝑐 14.08
ɳ𝑐 (%) = = = 88⁡ (%) (30)
𝑃𝑑𝑐 16

where, ɳ𝑐 is the conversion efficiency [%],⁡ 𝑃𝑑𝑐 is the direct current power

[W], and 𝑃𝑎𝑐 ⁡ is the alternating current power [W].

Reflected power exists in the RF power system because of the

characteristics of the electromagnetic wave. The reflected power shown in Eqn.

(31) is calculated using the difference between actual power input and the ICP

generation power.
𝑃𝑟 = 𝑃𝑎𝑐 − 𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 14.08 − 6.83 = 7.25(W) (31)

where 𝑃𝑟 is the reflected power [W].

94
4.4.2 ICP source measurement
Experimental data were collected by inserting the Langmuir double probe

into the ICP source to measure the induced current signal caused by the plasma

encountering the Langmuir probe. Figure 68 depicts the ICP source

measurement.

Figure 68 ICP source measurement.

Because the sweeping voltage was from −10 V to 10 V, the current

signal could be captured to graph the I-V curve. Figure 69 presents the

measured data points on the I-V curve.

95
 Figure 69 Langmuir probe I-V data.

By fitting the I-V curve as Eqn. (21), the ICP source’s electron

temperature and plasma density can be calculated using Eqn. (32) and Eqn. (33),

respectively. The values used in Eqn. (32) were calculated by fitting the curve

in the Matlab software. The electron temperature of the ICP source was 1.25

eV, the plasma potential was 2.59V, and the plasma density was 3.14 × 10 20

m−3.
𝑒𝑉 𝑉
I = 𝐼𝑖𝑠 × tanh = 15 × tanh = 15 × tanh(0.4 × 𝑉)⁡
2𝑘𝑇𝑒 2𝑇𝑒 (𝑒𝑉)
1
𝑇𝑒 = = 1.25⁡ (𝑒𝑉)⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ (32)
2×0.4
1
1 𝐼𝑖𝑠 𝑚 2
𝑛0 =
0.61
×
𝑒𝐴
× (𝑘𝑇𝑖 ) ⁡ ⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡
𝑒

1
=
0.61
1
15 × 10−3 39.948 × 1.6726231 × 10−27 2
× ×( )
1.602 × 10−19 × 𝜋 × (0.3)2 × 10−6 1.3806 × 10−23 × 1.25

= 3.14 × 1020 ⁡ (𝑚−3 )⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ (33)

96
4.5 RF ion thruster experimental
improvement

4.5.1 RF ion thruster integration

After the gas feeding system, RF power system, and ion optics system

were integrated, the miniature RF ion thruster was tested at mass flow rates of

1 to 10 SCCM of argon with 16 W of RF power at a pressure of 5 × 10−4 torr.

Figure 70 presents a schematic and the miniature RF ion thruster.

97
(a)

(b)

Figure 70 (a) Schematic, (b) miniature RF ion thruster.

98
4.5.2 RF ion thruster fire test
For the ion thruster experiment, the voltage on the screen grid was applied

as positive +105 V, 1st acceleration grid as +100 V, 2nd acceleration grid as 0

V, 3rd acceleration grid as -2000V. These biased potentials of grids were

referred to the SIMION simulation, that is, 5, 0, –100, –2100V. Since operating

the full system of the ion thruster, the DC ignition of the ion thruster has

converted from igniting between the two ignition wires to two acceleration

grids. If the screen grid is biased as 5V as the plasma potential, the plasma will

collide with the screen grid to cause the erosion of the screen. Therefore, a

higher voltage is applied to the screen grid to reduce the plasma impingement

for increasing the lifetime of the screen grid and also the ion thruster.

In the first test of the miniature RF ion thruster, the four-grid system of

the miniature RF ion thruster has been tested in the mass flow rate of 2 SCCM

to 10 SCCM of argon with providing 16watts of RF power. The miniature RF

ion thruster couldn’t operate with the actual power input of 10W in the pressure

of 5 × 10−4 ⁡ 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑟 but successfully in the pressure of 5 × 10−2 ⁡ 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑟. The

first assumption is that the inner pressure of the discharge chamber has to be

higher than the background pressure to generate the ICP source by a reduction

outlet or an increase of the mass flow rate of the gas supplement. Secondly, the

power input has a threshold value to generate the ICP source plasma. Third, the

neutralizer should be integrated to emit electrons to ignite the ICP source.

99
At the pressure of 5 × 10−2 ⁡ 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑟, the discharge situation has been captured

in

Figure 71. The ICP source is generated inside the discharge chamber due

to the electric field distribution of the solenoid coil. Moreover, since we turn

on the ion optics system, the ion thruster has shown a purple plasma plume

downstream of the RF ion thruster shown in Figure 72.

Figure 71 RF ion thruster in the high-pressure test.

Figure 72 RF ion thruster operating with an ion optics system.

100
 During the experiment, there is occasionally arcing situation between two

acceleration grids due to the high negative voltage applied on the last grid.

Besides, it can be improved by better insulation between each grid in the ion

optics system. Consequently, the RF ion thruster successfully operated in the

pressure of 5 × 10−4 (torr) to achieve the purpose of this study.

During the fire testing at 5 × 10−4 torr, the current applied to the neutralizer

was controlled to increase electron emission, and the third acceleration grid was

biased to ignite a small amount of plasma present because of a breakdown

between the grids.

The neutralizer was placed 50 mm downstream of the ion thruster, and 10

SCCM of argon was supplied to the ion thruster. The fire test was successful at

5 × 10−4 torr shown in Figure 73.

Figure 73 First successful test of RF ion thruster.

101
 After the ion optics system was activated, the RF ion thruster could not be

operated effectively because of intermittent breakdowns between the grids and

the neutralizer. The purple plasma plume was barely visible because of the

brightness of the neutralizer, but the ion beam generated during the experiment

was visible. By adjusting the position of the neutralizer, the moments of

breakdown were captured shown in Figure 74.

(a)

(a)
(b)

(b)

Figure 74 (a) An upper and (b) lower neutralizer exhibiting breakdown

at a pressure of 5 × 10−4 torr.

102
 The poor thruster performance could be due to the plasma density of the

ICP source being insufficient to achieve acceleration in the ion optics system.

This problem can be solved by supplying a higher mass flow rate; thus, the ion

thruster was set to 17 – 32 SCCM to increase the plasma density of the ICP

source in the discharge chamber. We determined that a distance of 30 mm

resulted in the best performance by observing the stability of the continuous

ion beam. Figure 75 presents a successful stability test for the RF ion thruster.

Figure 75 Successful stability test of RF ion thruster.

For the repeatability and reliability measurements of the RF ion thruster,

we set the parameters of the miniature RF ion thruster as follows: (1) the input

power of the RF circuit was 20 W, (2) the four-grid system was biased with 105,

100, 0, and −2000 V with total input power of 15 W, (3) the three-grid system

was biased as 305, 0, and −2000 V with a total input power of 10 W, and (4)

103
the input power of the neutralizer was 50–80 W.

4.6 Plasma measurement results

To characterize the two types of grid systems in the ion thruster, the ion

beams were measured using a Faraday cup to increase the mass flow rates from

17 to 32 SCCM. Figure 76 depicts the Faraday cup experiment.

Figure 76 Faraday cup experiment.

Figure 77 presents the relationship between the measured ion beam

current and mass flow rate. For both grid systems, the results revealed that the

current values increased as the mass flow rate increased.

104
 (a)

(b)

Figure 77 Mass flow rate with respect to ion beam current for (a) the

four-grid system and (b) the three-grid system.

105
 The sweeping voltage was between −10 and 10 V, and the Langmuir double

probe was placed 10 mm from the ion thruster outlet to capture the current data

to plot the I-V curve. We supplied 32 SCCM of argon gas during the Langmuir

probe measurement shown in Figure 78, and Figure 79 presents the I-V curves

of the four-grid and three-grid RF ion thrusters.

Figure 78 Langmuir probe experiment.

106
 (a)

(b)

Figure 79 I-V curves for (a) the four-grid system and (b) the three-grid

system.

107
 A comparison of these two types of grid systems revealed that the four-

grid system had a higher ion saturation current, 0.03 mA, than that of the three-

gid system, 0.02 mA, but that the four-grid system had a lower slope at the

scanning voltage transition. The results in Table 1 indicate that the four-grid

system had a higher electron temperature and plasma density than did the three-

grid system. In addition, the four-grid system was 1 mm longer than the three-

grid system. This 1-mm difference caused the four-grid system to generate a

higher plasma density than did the three-grid system. The uncertainty in

electron temperature was evaluated by fitting a curve to the I-V curve data

shown in Table 8.

Table 8 The parameters of the four grids system and three grids system.

Ion thruster prototype 4-grid system 3-grid system

Electron temperature
1.82±0.18 1.43±0.11
[eV]

Plasma density
5.2 × 1017 2.6 × 1017
−3
[𝑚 ]

108
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION

5.1 Analyses of the thruster performance

After the plasma characteristics and ion beam of the RF ion thruster were

evaluated, the thruster performance was analyzed in terms of thrust, specific

impulse, thruster mass utilization efficiency, and thruster efficiency.

In the ion thruster, ions are accelerated by the ion optics system by

applying electrical power. Because the velocity of ions is substantially higher

than that of the unionized propellant, the thrust can be calculated using Eqn.

(34).
𝑇 = 𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑣𝑒𝑥 ≈ 𝑚̇ і 𝑣𝑖 (34)

where 𝑣𝑖 is the ion exhaust velocity [m/s].

In ion thrusters, the beam is nearly monoenergetic. The multiple charges

determine the total thrust correction, given by Eqn. (35)

𝑇 = 𝛾𝑚̇ і 𝑣𝑖 (35)

where 𝛾 is the charged species.

By using the conservation of energy equation, the ion exhaust velocity can

be calculated using Eqn. (36).

2𝑞𝑉𝑏
𝑣𝑖 = √ (36)
𝑚𝑝

The mass flow rate of the propellant is related to the ion beam current, as

indicated by Eqn. (37).

𝐼𝑏 𝑀𝑖
𝑚̇ і = (37)
𝑞

109
 During thruster operation, the mass of the spacecraft varies with time

because of propellant consumption; thus, the thrust is determined by the time

derivative of momentum. By substituting Eqn. (36) and Eqn. (37) into Eqn.

(35), Eqn. (38) can be obtained, which relates the ion beam current to the

voltage.
2𝑀𝑖
T = 𝛾√ 𝐼𝑏 √𝑉𝑏 (38)
𝑒

Eqn. (38) is the basic thrust equation and is applicable to a single ion (𝛾 =

1 ) and the monoenergetic ion beam. The equation indicates that thrust is

proportional to ion mass, beam current, and the square root of the voltage drop

in the ion optics system.

The net ion beam voltage of the four-grid and three-grid systems were

defined as the potential drop from the first grid to the last grid. Thus, the set

potential drop of the four- and three-grid systems were 2105 and 2305 V,

respectively. Figure 80 presents diagrams of the ion beam voltage for the two

grid systems.

110
 (a)

(b)
Figure 80 Ion beam voltages for (a) the four-grid and (b) three-grid

systems.

111
 Thrust efficiency is a product of propellant utilization and electrical

efficiency and can be calculated using Eqn. (39)

𝐼𝑏 𝑉𝑏
ɳ 𝑇 (%) = 𝛾 2 ɳ𝑚 = 𝛾 2 ɳ𝑚 ɳ𝑒 (39)
𝑃𝑡

The ion beam current captured by the Faraday cup was 172 mA for 17.35

SCCM of argon supplied to the four-grid RF ion thruster. The thrust of the

miniature RF ion thruster is calculated using Eqn. (40).

2𝑀𝑖
T=√ × 0.172 × √2105 =7.219⁡ mN (40)
𝑒

For a miniature RF ion thruster, the specific impulse is calculated using Eqn.

(41).
𝑇 7.219×10−3
𝐼𝑠𝑝 = = = 1426.9⁡ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 (41)
𝑚𝑝̇ 𝑔 0.0297326×17.35×10−6 ×9.807

The mass utilization efficiency of the ion thruster can be calculated for

singly charged ions using Eqn. (42)

𝑚̇ 𝑖 𝐼𝑏 𝑀𝑖 0.172×39.948×1.6726231×10−27
ɳ𝑚 (%) = = = = 13.91⁡ %
𝑚̇ 𝑝 𝑒𝑚̇ 𝑝 1.602×10−19 ×0.0297326×17.35⁡ ×10−6

(42)

hrust efficiency, which determines the beam power generated by the ion

thruster versus the total power input, is calculated using Eqn. (43)
𝐼𝑏 𝑉𝑏 0.172×2105
ɳ 𝑇 (%) = 𝛾 2 ɳ𝑚 = 0.1391 × = 11.39⁡ % (43)
𝑃𝑇 442.06

Figure 81 presents the ion beam current of both grid systems for different

mass flow rates. The results reveal that the ion beam current increased as the

mass flow rate increased. Because thrust performance is proportional to the

square root of the ion beam voltage, the ratio of the performance of the three-

grid system to that of the four-grid system was 1.046. Therefore, the thrust

112
performance of these grid systems is affected substantially by the ion beam

current. Figure 81 (b) presents the thrust performance of both grid systems; the

results are similar for different mass flow rates (Figure 81 (a)).

(a)

(b)
Figure 81 (a) Ion beam current and (b) thrust of the three-grid and four-

grid systems at different mass flow rates.

113
 Figure 82 presents the relationship between the specific impulse and mass

utilization efficiency for both grid systems under different mass flow rates. The

results reveal that the mass use efficiency and a specific impulse of both grid

systems decreased as the mass flow rate increased. A comparison of Figure 81

and Figure 82 indicated that the performance of both grid systems was similar

under different mass flow rates.

114
 (a)

(b)
Figure 82 (a) Specific impulse and (b) mass utilization efficiency of the

four-grid and three-grid systems under different mass flow rates.

115
Figure 83 presents the thrust efficiency for both grid systems under different

mass flow rates. Thrust efficiency is proportional to mass utilization efficiency

and electrical efficiency. The electrical efficiency is proportional to the ion

beam current and ion beam voltage for the given input power. The results

revealed that the thrust efficiency of both grid systems decreased as the mass

flow rate increased; these results are similar to those in Figure 82. In addition,

thrust efficiency strongly affected mass utilization efficiency.

Figure 83 Thrust efficiency of four-grid and three-grid systems under

different mass flow rates.

116
5.2 Discussion and comparison of the ion
thruster performance

Since a higher mass flow rate was applied into the RF ion thruster, the cold

gas condition should be considered seriously. In order to calculate the thrust of

an argon cold gas flow, we have to know the speed of argon particles which is

8.59 m/s. Therefore, the thrust of 1 SCCM argon cold gas flow can be

calculated as Eqn. (44)

𝑘𝑔 𝑚
𝐹 = 𝑚̇𝐴𝑟 𝑉𝑒 = 0.0297326 × 10−6 [ ] × 8.59 [ ] = 2.554 × 10−7 𝑁
𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑠

(44)

From the supplied mass flow rate from 17.3 SCCM to 32.4 SCCM, the

argon cold gas flow has a range from 4.418 μN to 8.275 μN by assuming the

gas supplement filling the discharge chamber. The miniature RF ion thruster

can be confirmed as effective based on providing thrust as 7.219 mN from

argon cold gas flow of 17.35 SCCM, which is significantly higher than 4.418

μN.

In the analysis of our RF ion thruster, we found that its calculation of

specific impulse is comparable to the similar size of the RF ion thruster in the

world. In Table 9, we found that the thrust of our thruster is much higher than

BIT-3 due to the higher mass flow rate supplement. With a higher mass flow

rate, the result shows that the mass utilization efficiency and the thrust

efficiency are lower than the BIT-3. On the other hand, more propellant is

depleted in the discharge chamber.

117
 Table 9 Comparison of RF ion thruster performance.

3-grid
Ion thruster 4-grid system BIT-3Busek)
system

Thrust [mN] 8.3－11.3 7.6－12.4 0.65－1.15

Specific impulse 1199.9－

1306.9－1515.9 1200－2100
[s] 1633.3

Mass utilization
11.7－15.9 12.5－14.1 30－50
efficiency [%]

Thrust efficiency
10－13 11－12 25－42
[%]

Diameter [mm] 38 38 30

Propellant type Argon Argon Xenon/Iodine

Mass flow rate 515.5－ 515.5－

27－42
[μg/s] 962.3 962.3

118
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND
FUTURE WORK

6.1 Conclusion

We successfully developed a prototype for a miniature RF ion thruster for

CubeSat propulsion. Since we can compare the performance of the miniature

RF ion thruster to the gridded ion thruster in Electrostatic propulsion, our

miniature RF ion thruster is fitted in the area of gridded ion thruster shown as

a red dot in Figure 84.

119
 (a)

(b)

Figure 84 (a) Specific impulse with respect to thrust (b) Fitting point

(red dot) in Gridded ion thruster.

120
 The four-grid and three-grid systems exhibited similar thruster

performance under different mass flow rates. Because the performance of the

miniature RF ion thruster was comparable to that of gridded ion thrusters, our

miniature RF ion thruster can be categorized as a gridded ion thruster with

electrostatic propulsion.

Our CubeSat electrostatic propulsion system is the first system of this

nature developed in Taiwan. CubeSats entail more power, weight, and space

limitations than do microsatellites. The miniature RF ion thruster produced 7.6

– 12.3 mN of thrust, had a specific impulse of 1200 – 1633.3 s, and had 12% –

16% mass utilization efficiency at 80 – 120 W of input power.

121
6.2 Future work

(1) Neutralizer design

Since the tungsten filament is not suitable for space propulsion due to the

short lifetime and less reliability of the performance, a hollow cathode should

be designed to replace as a neutralizer for RF ion thruster. Moreover, the hollow

cathode has to be suitable to operate at low power consumption.

(2) Optimization of the miniature RF ion thruster

We will try to optimize the miniature RF ion thruster by Surrogate Model.

The discharge chamber size, the mass flow rate, the input RF power, and the

grids system should be put into the Surrogate model to find the best condition

to operate the miniature RF ion thruster.

(3) Installation of the full system as CubeSat

All the systems, including the gas feeding system, radio-frequency, ion

optics system, and the neutralizer, will be installed into the 6-U of the CubeSat.

The size of these systems has to make a perfect allocation of ten cubic sizes.

(4) Improve the plasma diagnostics techniques

We will establish the Retarding Field Analyzer and Wien´s filter to make

the plasma diagnostics techniques complete.

122
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