Plume reduction in segmented electrode Hall thruster

A segmented electrode, which is placed at the thruster exit, is shown to af fect thruster operation in several ways, whether the electrode produces low emission current or no emission current, although there appear to be advan tages to the more emissive segmented electrode. Measured by plume divergenc e, the performance of Hall thruster operation, even with only one power sup ply, can approach or surpass that of nonsegmented operation over a range of parameter regimes. In particular, the low gas flow rate can exhibit low pl ume divergence. This allows flexibility in operation of segmented electrode thrusters in variable thrust regimes. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physi cs. [S0021-8979(00)02615-3].