Analysis and optimization of structural characteristics of discharge chamber cone section of 10 cm Kaufman ion thruster

Based on the need to improve the performance of the 10 cm Kaufman ion thruster， the magnetic field distribution， plasma density and the motion trajectory of the primary electrons in different cone-column angle discharge chambers were analyzed and optimized. The results show that the cone structure with an angle of 60° and smaller angle can form a good 50 Gs envelope in the discharge chamber. The plasma density of the 45° cone structure in the main ionization zone in the discharge chamber can reach 7.08×1018 m-3， and the primary diffusion coverage of the primary electrons in the discharge chamber can reach 40%， and the loss of the anode with the same duration is 36.8%， which is about 10%~20% less than that of other cone-column angle discharge chambers. Due to the change of the cone structure， the magnetic field distribution at the bottom of the discharge chamber and near the cone section changes， and the diffusion effect and loss of the primary electrons under the constraint of the magnetic field change， which then affects the plasma distribution in the discharge chamber， and finally determines that the cone structure of 45° is more suitable.