PPPL-3888 is available in pdf format (824 KB).

Effect of Anode Dielectric Coating on Hall Thruster Operation

Authors: L. Dorf, Y. Raitses, N.J. Fisch, and V. Semenov

Date of PPPL Report: October 2003

Published in: Applied Physics Letters 84: (16 February, 2004) 1070-1072.

An interesting phenomenon observed in the near-anode region of a Hall thruster is that the anode fall changes from positive to negative upon removal of the dielectric coating, which is produced on the anode surface during the normal course of Hall thruster operation. The anode fall might affect the thruster lifetime and acceleration efficiency. The effect of the anode coating on the anode fall is studied experimentally using both biased and emissive probes. Measurements of discharge current oscillations indicate that thruster operation is more stable with the coated anode.