A newly designed ignition method for miniature radio frequency ion thruster.

The ignition methods used by micro-radio frequency (RF) ion thrusters have a disadvantage, that is, the starting voltage and flow rate are obviously higher than the rated value, which will easily damage the grid after long-term use. To decrease the starting voltage and flow and reduce the damage to the grid, a new ignition system is proposed in this paper. This system uses an intake pipe as the ground electrode, has an inductance coil and a pre-ionization chamber, and enables the miniature RF ion thruster (Harbin Institute of Technology's RF Ion Thruster 4, HRIT-4) to ignite at the rated voltage and flow by means of strong electric field breakdown and electromagnetic coupling. The experimental results show that when the flow rate is 1.0 SCCM, the ignition voltage is lower than 1900 V, and when the flow rate is 1.5 SCCM, the ignition voltage is lower than 1400 V.