Xenon ion beam characterization in a helicon double layer thruster

A current-free electric double layer is created in a helicon double layer thruster operating with xenon and compared to a recently developed theory. The Xe+ ion beam formed by acceleration through the potential drop of the double layer is characterized radially using an electrostatic ion energy analyzer. For operating conditions of 500 W rf power, 0.07 mTorr gas pressure, and a maximum magnetic field of 125 G, the measured beam velocity is about 6 km s(-1), the beam area is about 150 cm(2), and the measured beam divergence is less than 6 degrees. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.