Calculation on 2 cm ECRIT Thrust Regulation Based on 3D PIC Numerical Simulation Method

Abstract

Drag-free control is the key technology for space gravitational wave detection, which will be completed by miniature thruster. 2 cm Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Thruster (ECRIT) may be used for the drag-free control. Therefore, the 3D PIC method is used to estimate the thrust regulation of 2 cm ECRIT through simulating the property of ion extracting from the double-grid system. Through analyzing the thrust performance and grid focusing property under different grid apertures, the better grid structure is selected for the subsequent calculation. On this basis, the influence of grid voltage and the ion density on the performance of the thruster is analyzed. The result shows that reducing grid aperture can reduce the thrust, but it also affects the focusing property of the grid. Changing the ion density can adjust the thrust in a wide range. At given grid structure and ion density, there is a suitable grid accelerating voltage range to ensure the best ion focus characteristics. Considering the thrust performance and focusing characteristics, the grid structure with screen and accelerating grid aperture in 0.6 mm and 0.34 mm is selected. When the ion density is 1×1 017, 0.7×1 017, 0.4×1 017 and 0.2×1 017 m-3, the thrust can range from 5.05 to 141.44 μN through adjusting the grid accelerating voltage. This study can provide information for analyzing the possibility of the thruster application.