Optimized electrode placement along the channel of a Hall thruster for ion focusing

An optimal placement of the segmented electrode for increasing the lifetime of the Aton-type Hall thruster, i.e., reducing the plume divergence, is demonstrated using a 2D3V fully kinetic Particle-in-Cell method. Segmented electrodes, embedded near the ionization region of non-segmented case and biased above anode potential, lead to an increased separation between the ionization and acceleration regions and the formation of an efficient acceleration electric field configuration as potential lens. Due to this electrode placement, the sheath near the ceramic walls of the acceleration region is collapsed and an excellent ion beam focusing is demonstrated. The potential contour pockets around the electrodes and the sheath collapse phenomenon are also discussed.