Effect of Electromagnetic Field on Ionization Efficiency of Anode Layer Hall Thruster: A Simulation Study

Ionization of argon and particle interaction, in the anode layer Hall thruster, were mathematically modeled, theoretically analyzed and numerically simulated with PIC software.The influence of the electric (E) and magnetic (M) fields on the variables, including the ionization efficiency, average electron energy, power, number ratio of electron to ion, was investigated.The simulated results show that the E and M fields have a major Impact.To be specific, as the discharge voltage increases, the average e-energy changes in an increase-decrease manner, peaking at 750 V, the number ratio of electron to ion increases and slowly decrease above 800 V; and as the magnetic field increases the average e-energy varies in an increase-decrease mode, maximizing at 170×10^-4 T, accompanied by increasing electron and decreasing ion numbers.We suggest that the optimized E/B ratio may be 1.6×10⁶ m/s, that is, a discharge voltage of 750 V and a magnetic field strength of 170×10^-4 T.