Evidence for ion acceleration by oscillations in the discharge plasma of ion engines

Abstract

The hollow cathode discharge plasma in ion engines is highly non-uniform, geometrically complex, and confined by a magnetic field; elucidating the mechanisms responsible for producing ions with anomalously high energies observed in the downstream regions of hollow cathodes will contribute to understanding the behavior of complex plasmas. Ions with energies in excess of ten times greater than the energy associated with electrostatic acceleration from the largest steady-state potential difference in the plasma discharge of ion engines have been detected.

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