ИСТИНА

Проект направлен на решение фундаментальной проблемы физики газового разряда, связанной с изучением на основе комплексных исследований параметров неравновесной плазмы высокочастотных разрядов, условий возбуждения волн, механизмов поглощения высокочастотной мощности, построения самосогласованной модели разряда с учетом наличия устройств, используемых для создания и поддержания разряда, а также на поиск путей оптимизации параметров перспективных моделей электроракетных двигателей, рабочий процесс которых основан на ВЧ разряде.

The project is aimed at solving the fundamental problem of the physics of a gas discharge associated with the study on the basis of comprehensive studies of the parameters of a nonequilibrium plasma of RF discharges, the conditions of wave excitation, mechanisms of absorption of RF power, the construction of a self-consistent model of the discharge, taking into account the presence of devices used to create and maintain the discharge, as well as on the search for ways to optimize the parameters of promising models of EPE, the working process of which is based on an RF discharge. Currently, the development of telecommunication systems, transport operations in near-earth orbits requires the modernization of well-known and development of new models of electric propulsion engines (EPE) with a high lifetime, specific impulse, energy efficiency and the ability to work not only on inert, but also on chemically active gases (including air). One of the candidates for organizing the operating mode of promising EPE models are modifications of a radio-frequency (RF) discharge in the absence and presence of an external magnetic field. The advantages of a RF discharge are well known: the discharge can be organized both in inert and chemically active gases without contact of the electrodes with the discharge. Besides, it does not require the presence of a cathode. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to analyze the possibility of using various modifications of the RF discharge as a working process for promising models of an EPE: a RF inductive ion thruster, an RF analogue of an stationary plasma thruster (SPT), and an RF plasma source with a nozzle designed for plasma outflow into vacuum. This determines the relevance of the work. The project as a whole and in some of its parts has scientific novelty RF inductive ion thrusters are well known. Its operation is provided by a sinusoidal RF current flowing through the inductor. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to study the possibility of increasing the energy efficiency of an RF inductive ion engine by optimizing the shape of the current pulse flowing through the inductor. Such work has not been carried out before in relation to ion thrusters. RF analogue of SPT is the original development of the authors. Based on the analogy between a DC discharge and a capacitive RF discharge, the authors of the project organized a working process in an engine based on a capacitive RF discharge. In such a scheme, an RF voltage is applied between electrodes geometrically located at the site of the anode and cathode of the SPT model operating on a DC discharge. On the basis of mathematical simulation, it was shown that in the region of the potential drop in the presence of a radial magnetic field, an azimuthal electron drift is possible in the same way as in a DC discharge. In this case, ions under the action of a quasi-stationary electric field are accelerated in the direction from the channel. Preliminary experiments have shown the possibility of obtaining ion fluxes with energies of 70 - 300 eV in the RF analog of SPT using not only inert gases, but also air. The objective of the project is to optimize the operation of the device based on studying the parameters of the plasma in the channel, the energy of ions in the jet, and the complex impedance of the discharge depending on the external conditions of its maintenance. An RF inductive plasma source with a nozzle designed to flow plasma into vacuum and create thrust is known in the literature as a helicon thruster. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to study a model of a low-power (up to 300 W) thruster with an external magnetic field (up to 200 Gs), depending on the external parameters of the discharge: power, working gas flow rate, the magnitude of the external magnetic field, as well as design features of the motor model. A physical feature of the discharge is the fact that the waves excited in the discharge are not reduced to helicons in the same way as they occur at powers of the order of 1 kW applied to the plasma and magnetic fields of the order of 1 kG. In this regard, special attention will be paid to the measurement and calculation of RF fields and waves generated in the engine model, and to the patterns of RF power input. An important component of the project is the analysis of the ion acceleration mechanisms at the exit from the model.