Pulsed operation of low-power plasma thruster

Integral and local characteristics of the laboratory model of a low-power plasma thruster operating in a pulsed regime have been experimentally studied. Rectangular pulses of discharge current with the leading and trailing fronts not exceeding 1 ms have been obtained. At an average supplied electric power of ∼150 W, the propulsion efficiency amounted to 35%. The plasma concentration, electron temperature, and potential distributions in the output plasma jet have been measured using an electric probe. These measurements showed that a well formed plasma jet with a small divergence angle exists behind the thruster edge.