Determination of the ionization region in Hall thruster plasmas with low perturbation

Information on the ionization of propellant gases is invaluable for Hall thruster plasma studies because the ion beam is the source of thrust generation. This study proposes a new method that identifies the ionization location of Xe+ ions in Hall thruster plasmas by combining the laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and floating emissive probe measurements in annular and cylindrical Hall thrusters. In an annular Hall thruster, this method...