Magnetic shielding of walls from the unmagnetized ion beam in a Hall thruster

Abstract

We demonstrate by numerical simulations and experiments that the unmagnetized ion beam formed in a Hall thruster can be controlled by an applied magnetic field in a manner that reduces by 2–3 orders of magnitude deleterious ion bombardment of the containing walls. The suppression of wall erosion in Hall thrusters to such low levels has remained elusive for decades.