Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source for Ion Thruster

An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source was designed and its performance was studied in comparison with a DC ion source. Ion production cost of 340 V/ion for ECR ion source and 189 V/ion for DC ion source were obtained at the pressure of 0.5 mTorr and the discharge power of 50 W. A luminosity distribution of the Ar-II line was imaged through an interferometer filter and a luminous arch hill was observed near the ECR region, where the plasma was resonantly generated. Ion wall loss measurement showed that the ion production cost became worse due to the excessive ion wall loss near the cusped magnets, where the plasma confinement was inferior to that of the DC ion source.