Novel excitation structure to improve the performance of a miniature radio frequency ion thruster

This letter reports a new magnetic field-enhanced radio frequency (RF) ion thruster, which uses a high-frequency shielding network to isolate the direct current and RF supplies. This provides an additional magnetic field for a novel magnetized RF ion thruster (HRIT-4M) without changing the original thruster structure. The results show an improvement in the performance of an RF ion thruster in a verified magnetic field. Compared to other excitation structures, this excitation structure is simpler and more efficient. However, it is influenced by factors such as the size of the discharge chamber and pressure, which should be further investigated.