An experimental study on carbon nanotube cathodes for electrodynamic tether propulsion

Research and development of an electrodynamic tether propulsion system for space debris removal has been started in the Institute of Space Technology and Aeronautics, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). An experimental investigation of a carbon-nanotube field-emission cathode (FEC), which is suitable as an electron emitter in this propulsion system, was conducted in this study. One of the important issues in the design of a FEC is to suppress an electron flow to a gate electrode to avoid thermal deformation of the electrode and to reduce power loss. For meeting this requirement, we designed an FEC device having a masking plate on a cathode surface. A numerical simulation indicated that presence of the masking plate distorts the electric field adjacent to the cathode surface and a converged electron beam that does not impinge on the gate electrode is formed. Several FEC devices were fabricated based on the simulation results, and they were tested experimentally. Results showed that no electron current flowed to the gate electrode when all the electrodes were assembled and aligned correctly.