Integrated Design Tools for RF Antennas for Helicon Plasma Thrusters

摘要

In this communication we report on a combined experimental-numerical activity that was conducted to assess the antenna-plasma interaction within a Helicon plasma source for space thrusters. The experiment is based on a versatile, re-configurable set-up which allows testing multiple thruster configurations under different operating conditions, featuring a high-efficiency RF antenna. The numerical results were obtained by means of various simulation tools for both RF circuit and antenna-plasma interface analysis; these tools were validated against experimental data. The results helped to improve our understanding of antenna-plasma coupling and the assessment/prediction of the RF system performance.