On the potential distribution in Hall thrusters

A model of the plasma flow in a Hall thruster channel is developed that takes into account the two-dimensional current conservation effect and relies on some experimental input parameters, such as magnetic field and electron temperature distribution. The model is an attempt to explain the experimentally found nonuniform potential distribution across the thruster channel. This effect is explained by the change of the electron mobility across a magnetic field due to the magnetic field gradient and due to the electron current along the magnetic field driven by the electron temperature gradient. (C) American Institute of Physics.