R&D result detail

Original Title

Optical Method for Monitoring Ion Current Changes in a Low-Pressure Plasma Source With Intended Application in Electric Propulsion

English Title

Optical Method for Monitoring Ion Current Changes in a Low-Pressure Plasma Source With Intended Application in Electric Propulsion

Type

WoS Article

Original Abstract

We analyzed the operation and characteristics of a radio frequency-driven low-pressure argon gas-fed plasma source, the result being that the extracted ion current strongly correlates with the density of argon metastables. Such an insight provides a practical advantage for the future engineering of the described plasma source. The plasma source exploits a Birdcage resonator and operates on the principle of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR), with a static magnetic field generated by a pair of Helmholtz coils. The general performance of the source was determined by measuring the extracted ion current at different flux densities of the stationary magnetic field near the resonance condition. This ion current was correlated with the plasma parameters obtained through optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Using the branching fraction method (BFM), the lowest argon metastable density (1s5 in Paschen's notation) was calculated. Both correlated quantities confirm that the source performs best at ECR.

English abstract

We analyzed the operation and characteristics of a radio frequency-driven low-pressure argon gas-fed plasma source, the result being that the extracted ion current strongly correlates with the density of argon metastables. Such an insight provides a practical advantage for the future engineering of the described plasma source. The plasma source exploits a Birdcage resonator and operates on the principle of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR), with a static magnetic field generated by a pair of Helmholtz coils. The general performance of the source was determined by measuring the extracted ion current at different flux densities of the stationary magnetic field near the resonance condition. This ion current was correlated with the plasma parameters obtained through optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Using the branching fraction method (BFM), the lowest argon metastable density (1s5 in Paschen's notation) was calculated. Both correlated quantities confirm that the source performs best at ECR.

Keywords

Plasma sources; Argon; Optical resonators; Magnetic fields; Ions; Magnetic field measurement; Electrons; Radio frequency; Magnetic resonance imaging; Discharges (electric); Cyclotron resonance; ion sources; optical spectroscopy; resonators

Key words in English

Plasma sources; Argon; Optical resonators; Magnetic fields; Ions; Magnetic field measurement; Electrons; Radio frequency; Magnetic resonance imaging; Discharges (electric); Cyclotron resonance; ion sources; optical spectroscopy; resonators

Authors

JUŘÍK, K.; MĚŠŤÁNKOVÁ, Z.; ŠŤASTNÝ, M.; MRÓZEK, K.; OBRUSNÍK, A.; KRČMA, F.; DREXLER, P.

Released

24.07.2025

Publisher

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Location

PISCATAWAY

ISBN

1939-9375

Periodical

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

Volume

53

Number

9

State

United States of America

Pages from

2279

Pages to

2283

Pages count

5

URL

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11095976

Full text in the Digital Library

http://hdl.handle.net/

BibTex

@article{BUT198456,
  author="Karel {Juřík} and Zuzana {Měšťánková} and Marek {Šťastný} and Kryštof {Mrózek} and Adam {Obrusník} and František {Krčma} and Petr {Drexler}",
  title="Optical Method for Monitoring Ion Current Changes in a Low-Pressure Plasma Source With Intended Application in Electric Propulsion",
  journal="IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE",
  year="2025",
  volume="53",
  number="9",
  pages="2279--2283",
  doi="10.1109/TPS.2025.3589670",
  issn="0093-3813",
  url="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11095976"
}