High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster

The Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster (μCAT) is an electric propulsion device that ablates solid cathode material, through an electrical vacuum arc discharge, to create plasma and ultimately produce thrust in the μN to mN range. About 90% of the arc discharge current is conducted by electrons, which go tow...

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Main Authors: Joseph Lukas, George Teel, Jonathan Kolbeck, Michael Keidar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2016-02-01
Series:AIP Advances
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4942111
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spelling doaj-f4f87713a5ee44f9a5f75be7e7ddafe52020-11-24T20:59:43ZengAIP Publishing LLCAIP Advances2158-32262016-02-0162025311025311-710.1063/1.4942111042602ADVHigh thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thrusterJoseph Lukas0George Teel1Jonathan Kolbeck2Michael Keidar3 The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USAThe Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster (μCAT) is an electric propulsion device that ablates solid cathode material, through an electrical vacuum arc discharge, to create plasma and ultimately produce thrust in the μN to mN range. About 90% of the arc discharge current is conducted by electrons, which go toward heating the anode and contribute very little to thrust, with only the remaining 10% going toward thrust in the form of ion current. A preliminary set of experiments were conducted to show that, at the same power level, thrust may increase by utilizing an ablative anode. It was shown that ablative anode particles were found on a collection plate, compared to no particles from a non-ablative anode, while another experiment showed an increase in ion-to-arc current by approximately 40% at low frequencies compared to the non-ablative anode. Utilizing anode ablation leads to an increase in thrust-to-power ratio in the case of the μCAT.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4942111
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Joseph Lukas
George Teel
Jonathan Kolbeck
Michael Keidar
spellingShingle Joseph Lukas
George Teel
Jonathan Kolbeck
Michael Keidar
High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
AIP Advances
author_facet Joseph Lukas
George Teel
Jonathan Kolbeck
Michael Keidar
author_sort Joseph Lukas
title High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
title_short High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
title_full High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
title_fullStr High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
title_full_unstemmed High thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
title_sort high thrust-to-power ratio micro-cathode arc thruster
publisher AIP Publishing LLC
series AIP Advances
issn 2158-3226
publishDate 2016-02-01
description The Micro-Cathode Arc Thruster (μCAT) is an electric propulsion device that ablates solid cathode material, through an electrical vacuum arc discharge, to create plasma and ultimately produce thrust in the μN to mN range. About 90% of the arc discharge current is conducted by electrons, which go toward heating the anode and contribute very little to thrust, with only the remaining 10% going toward thrust in the form of ion current. A preliminary set of experiments were conducted to show that, at the same power level, thrust may increase by utilizing an ablative anode. It was shown that ablative anode particles were found on a collection plate, compared to no particles from a non-ablative anode, while another experiment showed an increase in ion-to-arc current by approximately 40% at low frequencies compared to the non-ablative anode. Utilizing anode ablation leads to an increase in thrust-to-power ratio in the case of the μCAT.
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4942111
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