GENERALIZED HALL ACCELERATION

The operational characteristics of electric propulsion devices which u tilize the Hall effect have been generalized. The electrostatic accele ration is enhanced by a thermoelectric effect (the effect of electron pressure gradient in a generalized Ohm's law); an ion kinetic energy c an be higher than that associated with the electrostatic potential. De pending on the extent of this effect, there exists two acceleration mo des; an electrostatic one and an electrostatic/electrothermal hybrid o ne, the latter or which has a low-voltage characteristic.