空间用空心阴极研究进展

空心阴极是离子推力器、霍尔推力器、等离子接触器、空心阴极微推力器的核心组件。介绍了国外针对上述空间应用所进行的空心阴极研究进展,分析了国外空间用空心阴极技术的发展趋势,对我国空间用空心阴极技术发展思路提出建议。     

Coupling plasma plume of a low-power magnetically shielded Hall thruster with a hollow cathode

The coupling region of a Hall thruster with a hollow cathode is the region between the cathode and the thruster plume. The characteristics of plasma in that region are complicated and strongly associated with the thruster working conditions and the cathode position. In this paper, a laboratory 100 W class magnetically shielded Hall thruster was coupled with a hollow cathode. Optical imaging and electrostatic probe were employed to monitor and scan the plasma plume. Plume characteristics in the coupling region in non-self-sustained mode and self-sustained mode were compared. Evolution of the coupling plume with the cathode position was studied. Experiments show that, when turning the thruster into self-sustained mode or moving the cathode further away axially, the discharge current can be reduced by 6.4–10.6% restraining the electron current and improving ionization. In particular, when the cathode is moved further, the electron conduction near the channel walls is suppressed. The electron current is reduced by 27.4% and the ion beam current is increased by 7%. Overall, this work shows that the working mode of the thruster and the position of the cathode greatly affect the coupling plasma plume. Both play an important role in improving the utilizations of propellant and current.     

光学加工射频中和器的结构设计和性能研究

研究了射频中和器的工作原理,并且设计了射频中和器结构,实现了射频中和器的稳定工作。实验结果表明:射频中和器能够稳定引出电子束,有效中和离子束;在射频中和器不启动时去除函数峰值去除率仅有6nm/min,射频中和器正常工作时去除函数峰值去除率达到了72.5nm/min;并且射频中和器的中和能力与空心阴极中和器相当。因此,射频中和器满足光学加工对中和能力的需求,具备应用于光学加工的能力。     

多模式离子推力器流率特性实验研究

为了实现多模式离子推力器在宽功率范围内最优性能和可靠性,基于30cm多模式离子推力器通过实验开展了阴极和中和器羽状模式转变点流率、放电电压30V对应阴极流率和放电损耗曲线与束电流关系研究。30cm多模式离子推力器束电流从0.3A增加到3.3A时,阴极羽状模式转变点流率值从0.017mg/s增加到0.163mg/s,放电电压30V对应阴极流率从0.129mg/s增加到0.231mg/s,中和器羽状模式转变点流率从0.030mg/s增加到0.191mg/s。随放电室工质利用率的增加,在小束电流下放电损耗迅速增加;当束电流大于1.5A时,放电损耗对放电室工质利用率的变化较为迟钝。基于上述流率特性实验结果完成了30cm多模式离子推力器宽功率范围35个工作点下最佳流率设计。在设计的工作流率下,放电电压小于30V,阴极和中和器均工作在点状模式,实测推力为9.6mN~185.2mN、比冲为1332s~3568s、功率为258W~4761W。     

微波与等离子体之间的相互作用

根据微波和等离子的基本理论以及它们之间相互作用的原理,建立了由微波能、谐振腔内电场、工质流场、等离子体平衡场等组成的轴对称偏微分方程组。通过对模型的计算,获得了放电管内等离子体区的形状、电场、电子浓度和温度场,以及气体温度场。     

节流孔板位置对空心阴极特性的影响研究

为满足全电推进系统的宽放电电流范围需求,开展了节流孔板内移研究。将传统结构空心阴极的一部分发射体转移到节流孔板下游,即节流孔板夹放在两段发射体之间。对比测试发现,新结构阴极的阳极电压大约降低4V,空心阴极的内压提升约50%,供气管外壁最大温差由原来的94℃下降到25℃,阳极电压振荡小于8V。进一步,利用光谱诊断系统,对阴极羽流区进行了研究。通过对羽流区等离子体固定位置进行全谱(400nm～1000nm)扫描,发现节流孔板内移之后,阴极羽流区新出现了波长为529nm和542nm的光线。利用Kura相机拍摄的羽流区二维等离子体分布图像显示,当放电电流为4A时,阴极羽流区的Xe和Xe+的密度低于传统结构空心阴极。宏观特性测试结果显示节流孔板内置式阴极可以在更宽的电流范围内维持点模式工作。可用于需要宽放电电流范围的全电推进系统以及需要低阴极供气流量、高比冲的小型电推进平台。     

Analyses of techniques for measuring DC and AC electric fields in the magnetosphere

Methods for measuring the amplitudes and directions of DC electric fields and the directions, power spectra, and dispersion relations of AC electric fields in the magnetosphere are discussed with emphasis on their applicability in various regimes of the magnetospheric plasma. The two classes of techniques that are discussed are measurement of the bulk flow of the plasma and the potential difference between pairs of separated conductors. The plasma bulk flow discussion includes measurements by ionospheric radar backscatter, whistler mode wave propagation, energetic or thermal particle trajectories, artificial ion cloud motion, probe measurements of bulk flow, vehicle wake analyses, effects of bulk flow on the coupling of antennas, and the bulk flow of an artificial electron beam.     

Magnetosphere dynamics with artificial plasma clouds

Addition of cold plasma to the magnetosphere outside the plasmasphere can enhance both ion and electron electromagnetic cyclotron (EMC) instabilities. To turn on the ion EMC mode, one needs a cold plasma ion which is not too heavy; in many respects, lithium is ideal. Calculations have been made of total ion-EMC amplification on a single pass through a lithium cloud; these show that as much as 40–80 dB gain can be achieved on a synchronous-orbit field line. The most important effects of adding lithium are to reduce the minimum anisotropy requirement considerably, and to broaden the unstable domain in k-space. The dynamics of the cold lithium cloud have been studied in detail; on a time scale of a few hours, the cloud behaves as an incompressible fluid in the presence of electric convection fields, and should not become so seriously distorted that the total amplification given above is substantially degraded. Some remarks are made about the effects of added cold plasma on the Post-Rosenbluth electrostatic mode; for the most part, growth rates are reduced with addition of cold plasma.     

离子推力器放电腔内等离子体流动规律的全粒子模型

为了详细描述等离子体在放电腔内的产生、演化过程,建立了放电腔内部等离子体流动的二维轴对称全粒子数值模型。在考虑壁面二次电子发射影响的前提下,模拟得到了稳态后放电腔内电磁场、电子与离子数密度,电流密度等一系列参数分布,且与相关实验数据进行了比较,吻合较好。模型得到了实验中难以观测到的放电腔内等离子体的产生、演化过程以及稳态下的分布规律,合理解释了放电腔工作的基本原理。     

圆柱形阳极层霍尔推力器内轮辐效应的实验研究

为了研究圆柱形阳极层霍尔推力器内关于电子反常输运的轮辐效应(Rotating Spoke),分别采用高速相机和静电探针来捕捉圆柱形阳极层霍尔推力器内的轮辐效应图像和等离子体震荡频率。结果表明:在放电电压350V,放电电流3.5A,阳极上表面处的磁场强度为125Gs,工作气压为2×10-2Pa时,由测得轮辐效应的放电图像和波形可知,轮辐效应的频率为10kHz～12.5kHz。当磁场强度增加到205Gs,放电电流增加到4A时,轮辐效应的频率增加到25kHz,并且轮辐效应出现分裂和合并现象。此研究结果表明,圆柱形阳极层霍尔推力器内不仅存在轮辐效应现象以及角向电场,而且不同的工作参数会有不同的轮辐效应模式和频率。     

Electrodynamic coupling of the magnetosphere and ionosphere

The auroral zone ionosphere is coupled to the outer magnetosphere by means of field-aligned currents. Parallel electric fields associated with these currents are now widely accepted to be responsible for the acceleration of auroral particles. This paper will review the theoretical concepts and models describing this coupling. The dynamics of auroral zone particles will be described, beginning with the adiabatic motions of particles in the converging geomagnetic field in the presence of parallel potential drops and then considering the modifications to these adiabatic trajectories due to wave-particle interactions. The formation of parallel electric fields can be viewed both from microscopic and macroscopic viewpoints. The presence of a current carrying plasma can give rise to plasma instabilities which in a weakly turbulent situation can affect the particle motions, giving rise to an effective resistivity in the plasma. Recent satellite observations, however, indicate that the parallel electric field is organized into discrete potential jumps, known as double layers. From a macroscopic viewpoint, the response of the particles to a parallel potential drop leads to an approximately linear relationship between the current density and the potential drop.The currents flowing in the auroral circuit must close in the ionosphere. To a first approximation, the ionospheric conductivity can be considered to be constant, and in this case combining the ionospheric Ohm's Law with the linear current-voltage relation for parallel currents leads to an outer scale length, above which electric fields can map down to the ionosphere and below which parallel electric fields become important. The effects of particle precipitation make the picture more complex, leading to enhanced ionization in upward current regions and to the possibility of feedback interactions with the magnetosphere.Determining adiabatic particle orbits in steady-state electric and magnetic fields can be used to determine the self-consistent particle and field distributions on auroral field lines. However, it is difficult to pursue this approach when the fields are varying with time. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models deal with these time-dependent situations by treating the particles as a fluid. This class of model, however, cannot treat kinetic effects in detail. Such effects can in some cases be modeled by effective transport coefficients inserted into the MHD equations. Intrinsically time-dependent processes such as the development of magnetic micropulsations and the response of the magnetosphere to ionospheric fluctuations can be readily treated in this framework.The response of the lower altitude auroral zone depends in part on how the system is driven. Currents are generated in the outer parts of the magnetosphere as a result of the plasma convection. The dynamics of this region is in turn affected by the coupling to the ionosphere. Since dissipation rates are very low in the outer magnetosphere, the convection may become turbulent, implying that nonlinear effects such as spectral transfer of energy to different scales become important. MHD turbulence theory, modified by the ionospheric coupling, can describe the dynamics of the boundary-layer region. Turbulent MHD fluids can give rise to the generation of field-aligned currents through the so-called -effect, which is utilized in the theory of the generation of the Earth's magnetic field. It is suggested that similar processes acting in the boundary-layer plasma may be ultimately responsible for the generation of auroral currents.     

大型低轨道载人航天器电位主动控制

采用高电压太阳电池阵供电系统的低轨道(LEO)大型航天器会收集周围空间环境电子电流,使其被充电到较高的负电位,从而对航天器交会对接和航天员出舱产生严重的危害,因此对这种航天器表面电位进行主动控制可有效降低航天器运行风险和保障航天员安全。采用地面模拟试验的方法,利用空心阴极等离子体接触器发射电子的手段,模拟太空环境下对带负电航天器表面电位进行有效控制。研究结果表明,最小工质流率大于4.0 sccm时空心阴极发射的电子电流可以抵消航天器吸收的电子电流,实现航天器电位的自适应控制,将航天器表面电位钳制在20 V之内;且随着氙气流率的增加,钳位电压会更小。这一方法将有效避免航天员出舱活动和航天器交会对接时的放电危险,对中国航天器带电效应防护具有很重要的意义。     

铁电阴极用于中和器研究

分析了当前小功率电推进器对零流动无推进剂阴极的需求现状。提出铁电阴极用于小功率电推进中和器的可行性。研究了厚度为0.5 mm的锆钛镧酸铅(PLZT)铁电陶瓷在低激励电压(1.0～1.2 kV)下的电子发射特性。采用单极性正高压脉冲和80 Hz重复脉冲作为激励源,在收集极获得了脉宽为320～3000 ns,最高峰值分别为34 A和27 A的发射电流。在10-5Torr的真空环境中得到了可靠的电子发射。     

等离子体对大折转角扩压叶栅性能影响的机理

利用熵和耗散函数分析了某大折转角扩压叶栅内的流动及损失特性,探讨了等离子体减小损失的作用机理。结果表明,分离区仅是低能流体聚集区,而非高损失来源区;等离子体影响叶栅流动的机制可归结为,诱导其作用区上游流体加速降压、在其作用区内构造局部顺压力梯度以及增加电极附近的气流速度;等离子体通过减弱流动分离以减小栅内损失,其本质是通过减小吸力面后半部的分离区或低速区以减弱其与主流的剪切强度和减小强剪切作用区,从而减弱该区域内的耗散;等离子作用下吸力面附近气体流速的增加使得尾迹损失减小,而电极表面附近的粘性摩擦损失增加。     

多级会切磁场等离子体推力器研究进展

多级会切磁场等离子体推力器是一种电推进装置。在对此类推力器的基本概念、性能优势进行总结的基础上,系统性地回顾了国内外各研究机构不同功率级推力器的发展历程,并介绍了推力器离子加速及电子传导相关物理机制的研究过程。历经21年的发展,多级会切磁场等离子体推力器表现出显著的性能优势,在未来航天推进领域表现出了巨大的发展潜力。德国泰雷兹形成了以HEMP3050推力器为代表的工程化应用产品。我国微观物理机制的研究提升了推力器的认知水平,不同功率级推力器的研究均取得突破性进展,为推力器未来的快速发展奠定了基础。     

RPC-LAP: The Rosetta Langmuir Probe Instrument

The Rosetta dual Langmuir probe instrument, LAP, utilizes the multiple powers of a pair of spherical Langmuir probes for measurements of basic plasma parameters with the aim of providing detailed knowledge of the outgassing, ionization, and subsequent plasma processes around the Rosetta target comet. The fundamental plasma properties to be studied are the plasma density, the electron temperature, and the plasma flow velocity. However, study of electric fields up to 8 kHz, plasma density fluctuations, spacecraft potential, integrated UV flux, and dust impacts is also possible. LAP is fully integrated in the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC), the instruments of which together provide a comprehensive characterization of the cometary plasma. The LAP Team is listed in Table III.     

阳极层霍尔推力器内轮辐效应不稳定性研究

为研究圆柱形阳极层霍尔推力器内轮辐效应的不稳定性,利用高速相机和静电探针得到1-2-1模式、1-2-3-1模式和1-2-3-2-1模式的轮辐分裂与合并现象。随着磁感应强度由205Gs增加到225Gs,轮辐个数m由1增加到3。轮辐的分裂与合并模式增多,且轮辐的旋转频率随之由25kHz提高到40kHz～50kHz。轮辐效应的存在是电子密度分布函数的宏观体现,动理论方程中力F的波动引起了轮辐的分裂,随着轮辐个数m的增加,电子分布的低频大幅度波动逐渐演变为小幅度高频率的波动。电子密度分布函数的波动引起的轮辐效应产生了角向分布的电场强度与磁场共同作用,增强了电子轴向漂移运动。     

The Radio Plasma Imager investigation on the IMAGE spacecraft

Radio plasma imaging uses total reflection of electromagnetic waves from plasmas whose plasma frequencies equal the radio sounding frequency and whose electron density gradients are parallel to the wave normals. The Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) has two orthogonal 500-m long dipole antennas in the spin plane for near omni-directional transmission. The third antenna is a 20-m dipole along the spin axis. Echoes from the magnetopause, plasmasphere and cusp will be received with the three orthogonal antennas, allowing the determination of their angle-of-arrival. Thus it will be possible to create image fragments of the reflecting density structures. The instrument can execute a large variety of programmable measuring options at frequencies between 3 kHz and 3 MHz. Tuning of the transmit antennas provides optimum power transfer from the 10 W transmitter to the antennas. The instrument can operate in three active sounding modes: (1) remote sounding to probe magnetospheric boundaries, (2) local (relaxation) sounding to probe the local plasma frequency and scalar magnetic field, and (3) whistler stimulation sounding. In addition, there is a passive mode to record natural emissions, and to determine the local electron density, the scalar magnetic field, and temperature by using a thermal noise spectroscopy technique.     

空心阴极的发射热特性研究

空心阴极的发射体在电子发射时会处于动态热平衡状态,这种发射热特性对发射体的利用率和工作寿命有重要意义。为研究空心阴极发射热特性及相关热设计方法,建立一种流-热耦合数值模型,将等离子体流场计算与组件热分布计算进行耦合,并采取一种逆向迭代方法来收敛计算,数值模型在验证试验下的计算误差低于11.3%。在此基础上,对发射体温差的机理以及阴极顶孔径对发射体温差的影响规律进行数值分析,主要结论为:羽状模式下的核心电离区较发散,导致发射体温差较点状模式高出50 K左右;适当增加阴极顶孔径可对发射体温差有降低作用。     

水工质微波加热推力器的击穿点火与离解损失估算

对水工质微波等离子推力器(MPT),用微波击穿气体放电产生等离子体的条件,数值估算了其点火的可行性;通过化学动力学计算证明了水工质MPT中离解损失的存在,并初步估算了理解损失的大小。结果表明,在1 kW的输入功率下水工质MPT的点火启动并不特别困难,从点火到稳定工作,能量吸收从场致电离、碰撞电离转变为热电离、碰撞电离和场致电离;水在MPT工作过程中会发生离解,离解损失在各类能量损失中所占的比重较大。