Simulation Design of Miniaturized Electric Thruster Based on Hall Ion Source

Marketization and miniaturization will be the dominant development trend of commercial remotesensing satellites in our country. However,the application of miniaturized commercial remote sensing satellite isconstrained by its propulsion system miniaturization. For the reason above,this paper involves a miniaturization de-sign of an electric thruster based on an anode layer Hall ion source. By Particle-in-Cell and Monte Carlo Collisionmethod(PIC/MCC),discharge characteristics of devices of different structures are predicted,and influencing fac-tors of device performance are analyzed. In this paper,the design basis of miniaturized Hall thruster is obtainedand can be another option of commercial remote sensing satellite thruster. Numerical simulation results of miniatur-ized Hall thruster reveal that shrunken discharge area has caused the reduction of discharge efficiency and deviceperformance,and these issues can be alleviated by enhancing magnetic field or extending electron oscillation paths.