Influence of the Decelerator Grid on the Optical Performance of the Ion Thruster

Abstract

In order to reduce the erosion of the ion thruster accelerator grid, which is caused by charge-exchange (CEX) ions, the 2-grid optical system is added to a decelerator grid to block the reflux CEX ions. The previous experiment and simulation results have proven that the decelerator grid can effectively reduce the Pit and Groove erosion. However, the influence of the decelerator grid on the optical performance has not yet been studied well. In this paper, a three-dimensional Immersed Finite Element Method-Particle in Cell-Monte Carlo Collision (IFE-PIC-MCC) algorithm was adopted to investigate the effect of the decelerator grid on the optical performance under crossover and normal circumstances. Results show that the decelerator grid has no effect on the focusing state and the distribution of beam ions. It also has little effect on the CEX ions from the upstream and extraction (center) regions. However, it has great influence on the downstream CEX ions. When the upstream plasma number density is small, the decelerator grid will cause most of the downstream reflux CEX ions to impinge on the accelerator grid aperture barrel, resulting in the significant increase of the Barrel erosion of the accelerator grid. With the increase of the upstream plasma number density, the downstream reflux CEX ions tend to impact the downstream surface of the decelerator grid, which means the decelerator grid begins to block the downstream backflow of CEX ions.