1. A self-neutralizing rf ion thruster, comprising:

the device comprises a radio frequency source, an impedance matching network, a direct current source unit, a main ionization chamber wound with a main coil, an auxiliary ionization chamber wound with an auxiliary coil, an ion extraction system and an electron extraction system;

the radio frequency source is connected with the impedance matching network, and the main coil is connected with the secondary coil in series and connected in the impedance matching network; or the main coil and the secondary coil are connected in parallel and connected in the impedance matching network;

the input end of the main ionization chamber is connected with a gas distributor, and the output end of the main ionization chamber is connected with the ion extraction system;

the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is communicated with the side wall of the main ionization chamber, and the output end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with the electron extraction system;

the ion extraction system and the electron extraction system are both connected with the direct current source unit;

the ion extraction system is used for extracting ions in the main ionization chamber and accelerating the ions to be ejected out to generate thrust;

and the electron extraction system is used for extracting electrons in the auxiliary ionization chamber so as to realize ion neutralization extracted by the ion extraction system.

2. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1, wherein the distance between the position of the input end of the secondary ionization chamber on the side wall of the primary ionization chamber and the output end of the primary ionization chamber along the jet direction is less than a preset distance.

3. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1 wherein an input end opening of the secondary ionization chamber is twice as large as an output end opening of the secondary ionization chamber.

4. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1 wherein the size of the opening of the output end of the secondary ionization chamber is determined by the size of the current in the secondary coil.

5. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1 wherein the length of the channel through which the plasma flows in the secondary ionization chamber is less than a predetermined channel length.

6. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1 wherein a distance between an output of the ion extraction system and an output of the electron extraction system in an ion ejection direction is less than a preset distance.

7. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 6 wherein the range of electrons ejected by the output of the electron extraction system at least partially overlaps with the range of ions ejected by the output of the ion system.

8. The self-neutralizing rf ion thruster of claim 1 wherein the dc source unit comprises a positive high voltage power supply and a negative high voltage power supply; the input end of the ion extraction system is connected with the anode of the positive high-voltage power supply, and the output end of the ion extraction system is connected with the cathode of the negative high-voltage power supply; the input end of the electronic leading-out system is connected with the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply, and the output end of the electronic leading-out system is connected with the positive electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply; the negative electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply and the positive electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply are both grounded.

9. The self-neutralizing radio frequency ion thruster of claim 8, wherein a first voltage regulating resistor is connected between the input end of the electron extraction system and the negative electrode of the negative high voltage power supply; and a second voltage regulating resistor is connected between the output end of the electronic leading-out system and the anode of the positive high-voltage power supply.

Background

The radio frequency ion thruster is a device which ionizes working medium by utilizing electromagnetic wave with frequency of about 5MHz and accelerates ejected ions to generate thrust in an ion extraction system, and is one of aerospace electric thrusters. The device has the characteristics of simple structure, high specific impulse, high efficiency, long service life and the like, and is suitable for attitude adjustment, orbit maintenance, orbital transfer and even deep space exploration of various spacecrafts.

The conventional radio frequency ion thruster is generally provided with a neutralizer, but the neutralizer needs to separately provide electric power of a working medium and an ionized working medium to realize the extraction of electrons through an electron extraction system. Therefore, the conventional rf ion thruster needs to provide a separate storage and supply system and a separate power supply system for the neutralizer, resulting in a complicated structure. In view of the above, the present invention provides a radio frequency ion thruster with a simpler structure.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a self-neutralizing radio frequency ion thruster, which is characterized in that an auxiliary ionization chamber is arranged on the side surface of a main ionization chamber, the main ionization chamber is connected with an ion leading-out system, the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with an electron leading-out system, the main ionization chamber and the auxiliary ionization chamber share a set of radio frequency power source and an impedance matching network, and the electron leading-out system and the ion leading-out system share a direct current high-voltage source, so that the structure of the radio frequency ion thruster is simplified.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following scheme:

a self-neutralizing rf ion thruster, comprising:

the device comprises a radio frequency source, an impedance matching network, a direct current source unit, a main ionization chamber wound with a main coil, an auxiliary ionization chamber wound with an auxiliary coil, an ion extraction system and an electron extraction system;

the radio frequency source is connected with the impedance matching network, and the main coil is connected with the secondary coil in series and connected in the impedance matching network; or the main coil and the secondary coil are connected in parallel and connected in the impedance matching network;

the input end of the main ionization chamber is connected with a gas distributor, and the output end of the main ionization chamber is connected with the ion extraction system;

the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is communicated with the side wall of the main ionization chamber, and the output end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with the electron extraction system;

the ion extraction system and the electron extraction system are both connected with the direct current source unit;

the ion extraction system is used for extracting ions in the main ionization chamber and accelerating the ions to be ejected out to generate thrust;

and the electron extraction system is used for extracting electrons in the auxiliary ionization chamber so as to realize ion neutralization extracted by the ion extraction system.

Optionally, the distance between the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber located on the side wall of the main ionization chamber and the output end of the main ionization chamber along the ejection direction is less than a preset distance.

Optionally, the size of the opening of the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is twice the size of the opening of the output end of the auxiliary ionization chamber.

Optionally, the size of the opening at the output end of the secondary ionization chamber is determined by the size of the current in the secondary coil.

Optionally, the length of a channel through which the plasma flows in the secondary ionization chamber is smaller than a preset channel length.

Optionally, a distance between the output end of the ion extraction system and the output end of the electron extraction system along the ion ejection direction is less than a preset distance.

Optionally, a range of electrons ejected from the output end of the electron extraction system and a range of ions ejected from the output end of the ion system at least partially overlap.

Optionally, the dc source unit includes a positive high voltage power supply and a negative high voltage power supply; the input end of the ion extraction system is connected with the anode of the positive high-voltage power supply, and the output end of the ion extraction system is connected with the cathode of the negative high-voltage power supply; the input end of the electronic leading-out system is connected with the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply, and the output end of the electronic leading-out system is connected with the positive electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply; the negative electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply and the positive electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply are both grounded.

Optionally, a first voltage regulating resistor is connected between the input end of the electronic lead-out system and the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply; and a second voltage regulating resistor is connected between the output end of the electronic leading-out system and the anode of the positive high-voltage power supply.

According to the specific embodiment provided by the invention, the invention discloses the following technical effects:

the invention relates to a self-neutralizing radio frequency ion thruster which comprises a radio frequency source, an impedance matching network, a direct current source unit, a main ionization chamber wound with a main coil, an auxiliary ionization chamber wound with an auxiliary coil, an ion extraction system and an electron extraction system, wherein the main ionization chamber is provided with a main coil; the radio frequency source is connected with the impedance matching network, and the main coil is connected with the secondary coil in series and connected in the impedance matching network; or the main coil and the secondary coil are connected in parallel and connected in the impedance matching network; the input end of the main ionization chamber is connected with a gas distributor, and the output end of the main ionization chamber is connected with an ion extraction system; the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is communicated with the side wall of the main ionization chamber, and the output end of the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with an electron extraction system; the ion extraction system and the electron extraction system are both connected with the direct current source unit; the ion extraction system is used for extracting ions in the main ionization chamber and accelerating the ions to be ejected out to generate thrust; and the electron extraction system is used for extracting electrons in the auxiliary ionization chamber so as to realize ion neutralization extracted by the ion extraction system. Obviously, the auxiliary ionization chamber is arranged on the side surface of the main ionization chamber, the main ionization chamber is connected with the ion leading-out system, the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with the electronic leading-out system, the main ionization chamber and the auxiliary ionization chamber share one set of radio frequency power source and impedance matching network, the electronic leading-out system and the ion leading-out system share one direct current high-voltage source, and the radio frequency ion thruster can finish thrust generation and ion neutralization by only using one set of radio frequency power source, impedance matching network and direct current voltage source, so that the structure of the thruster is greatly simplified.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a principle of a novel self-neutralizing rf ion thruster provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the novel self-neutralizing rf ion thruster provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a positional relationship diagram of the main and sub ionization chambers provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Description of the symbols:

1: a radio frequency source; 2: an impedance matching network; 3: a direct current source unit; 31: a positive high voltage power supply; a 32 negative high voltage power supply; 4: a main coil; 5: a main ionization chamber; 6: a secondary coil; 7: a secondary ionization chamber; 8: an ion extraction system; 9: an electron extraction system; 10: a gas distributor; 11: a first voltage regulating resistor; 12: and a second voltage regulating resistor.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The invention aims to provide a self-neutralizing radio frequency ion thruster, which is characterized in that an auxiliary ionization chamber is arranged on the side surface of a main ionization chamber, the main ionization chamber is connected with an ion leading-out system, the auxiliary ionization chamber is connected with an electron leading-out system, the main ionization chamber and the auxiliary ionization chamber share a set of radio frequency power source and an impedance matching network, and the electron leading-out system and the ion leading-out system share a direct current high-voltage source, so that the structure of the radio frequency ion thruster is simplified.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in further detail below.

Example 1

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the present embodiment provides a self-neutralizing rf ion thruster, including:

the device comprises a radio frequency source 1, an impedance matching network 2, a direct current source unit 3, a main ionization chamber 5 wound with a main coil 4, an auxiliary ionization chamber 7 wound with an auxiliary coil 6, an ion extraction system 8 and an electron extraction system 9;

the radio frequency source 1 is connected with the impedance matching network 2; one end of the radio frequency source 1 not connected to the impedance matching network 2 may be grounded.

The main coil 4 and the secondary coil 6 are connected in series and connected in the impedance matching network 2; or the main coil 4 and the secondary coil 6 are connected in parallel and connected in the impedance matching network 2;

the connection of the primary winding 4 and the secondary winding 6 depends on the power distribution requirements. When the main coil 4 and the auxiliary coil 6 are connected in series, the main coil 6 and the auxiliary coil 6 can be regarded as a whole coil. The radial size and the number of turns of the primary and secondary coils 6 are determined according to the size of the primary and secondary ionization chambers 7, and because a certain limit exists in the structural size of the secondary ionization chamber 7, if more power needs to be distributed to the secondary coil 6, a multilayer coil can be wound on the secondary ionization chamber 7 to meet the use requirement. In addition, considering that the plasma required by main ionization chamber 5 is much larger than the plasma required by secondary ionization chamber 7, the coil required by main ionization chamber 5 is inevitably much larger than the coil of secondary ionization chamber 7, so when winding the coil, as many coils as possible are wound around main ionization chamber 5, and a small part of the coils are wound around secondary ionization chamber 7.

The input end of the main ionization chamber 5 is connected with a gas distributor 10, and the output end of the main ionization chamber 5 is connected with the ion extraction system 8;

the input end of the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 is communicated with the side wall of the main ionization chamber 5, and the output end of the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 is connected with the electron extraction system 9;

the ion extraction system 8 and the electron extraction system 9 are both connected with the direct current source unit 3;

the ion extraction system 8 is used for extracting ions in the main ionization chamber 5 and accelerating the ions to be ejected out to generate thrust;

and the electron extraction system 9 is used for extracting electrons in the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 so as to realize the neutralization of the ions extracted by the ion extraction system 8.

Since the secondary ionization chamber 7 is disposed at the side of the primary ionization chamber 5, in order to ensure that all the secondary ionization chamber 7 is plasma, and to avoid the working medium supplied to the primary ionization chamber 5 by the gas distributor 10, it is required that the input port of the secondary ionization chamber 7 is disposed on the side wall close to the output end position of the primary ionization chamber 5 as much as possible, that is, the distance between the position of the input port of the secondary ionization chamber 7 on the side wall of the primary ionization chamber 5 and the output end of the primary ionization chamber 5 along the injection direction is smaller than the preset distance.

In order to make the plasma in main ionization chamber 5 enter into secondary ionization chamber 7 as much as possible, the size of the opening at the connection between secondary ionization chamber 7 and main ionization chamber 5 may be adjusted, that is, the size of the input end opening of secondary ionization chamber 7 may be adjusted, and the size of the input end opening of secondary ionization chamber 7 may be defined to be twice the size of the output end opening of secondary ionization chamber 7. And the size of the opening at the output end of the secondary ionization chamber 7 can be determined according to the size of the current flowing in the secondary coil 6. Fig. 3 shows the dashed portion as the input end opening of the secondary ionization chamber, which represents the position relationship between the input end of the secondary ionization chamber and the side wall of the main ionization chamber.

In order to avoid more loss when the plasma circulates in the secondary ionization chamber 7, the inner wall of the secondary ionization chamber 7 can be selected to be of a smooth structure, and a smooth arc-shaped transition structure can be selected for a place with a curve. And considering that the path length of the plasma from entering the secondary ionization chamber 7 to leaving the secondary ionization chamber 7 directly affects the loss of the plasma, the path length through which the plasma flows can be defined, that is, the channel length through which the plasma flows in the secondary ionization chamber 7 can be required to be smaller than the preset channel length. The secondary ionization chamber 7 is optimally designed in terms of the internal structure and the channel length, so that the wall surface loss of plasma can be reduced.

For the position arrangement of the output end of the ion extraction system 8 and the output end of the electron extraction system 9, as long as the ion extracted by the ion extraction system 8 and the electron extracted by the electron extraction system 9 are neutralized, the positions of the output end of the ion extraction system 8 and the output end of the electron extraction system 9 can be flexibly arranged, for example, the output end of the ion extraction system 8 and the output end of the electron extraction system 9 can be arranged on the same plane, or the output end of the ion extraction system 8 is slightly in front of or behind the output end of the electron extraction system 9. That is, the distance between the output end of the ion extraction system 8 and the output end of the electron extraction system 9 in the ion ejection direction is required to be smaller than a preset distance.

Since the ions extracted by the ion extraction system 8 and the electrons extracted by the electron extraction system 9 need to be self-neutralized, the range of the electrons ejected by the output end of the electron extraction system 9 is required to at least partially overlap with the range of the ions ejected by the output end of the ion system. For the output end opening direction, the output end opening direction led out by the ion leading-out system 8 and the output end opening direction of the electron leading-out system 9 may be required to be the same, or the output end opening direction of the electron leading-out system 9 slightly faces the output end opening direction led out by the ion leading-out system 8, and the setting may be performed according to actual requirements.

The output end of the electron extraction system 9 is provided with a plurality of holes, and the aperture and the number of the holes can be set according to the space charge saturation effect and the required current.

In order to ensure that the ion extraction system 8 and the electron extraction system 9 can extract ions and electrons, the dc source unit 3 may be required to include a positive high-voltage power supply 31 and a negative high-voltage power supply 32; the input end of the ion extraction system 8 is connected with the positive electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply 31, and the output end of the ion extraction system 8 is connected with the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply 32; the input end of the electronic leading-out system 9 is connected with the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply 32, and the output end of the electronic leading-out system 9 is connected with the positive electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply 31; the negative electrode of the positive high-voltage power supply 31 and the positive electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply 32 are both grounded. Under the connection relation, the input end and the output end of the ion extraction system 8 are respectively connected with the input end and the output end of the electron extraction system 9 in parallel. After the ion extraction system 8 and the electron extraction system 9 are connected to the dc source unit 3, the ion extraction system 8 and the electron extraction system 9 are divided into two parts, that is, the input end of the ion extraction system 8 is a positive high voltage part, the output end thereof is a negative high voltage part, the input end of the electron extraction system 9 is a negative high voltage part, and the output end thereof is a positive high voltage part.

In order to enable the electronic extraction system 9 to reach a suitable voltage required for electronic extraction, a voltage regulating resistor may be provided between the electronic extraction system 9 and the dc source unit 3, that is, a first voltage regulating resistor 11 may be connected between the input terminal of the electronic extraction system 9 and the negative electrode of the negative high-voltage power supply 32; and a second voltage regulating resistor 12 is connected between the output end of the electronic leading-out system 9 and the anode of the positive high-voltage power supply 31. The voltage regulating resistor is tested on the ground, several groups of working condition points in a proper range are selected, and different resistors are switched through the switching circuit to adapt to voltages required under different working conditions.

The principle of the rf ion thruster provided in the present embodiment is described below: the main coil 4 and the auxiliary coil 6 wound on the main ionization chamber 7 are connected with the impedance matching network 2, and finally connected with the radio frequency source 1, and the power required by ionization is provided for the main coil 6 and the auxiliary coil 6 by the radio frequency source 1. Wherein, the working medium is sent into the main ionization chamber 5 by the gas distributor 10, the main coil 4 induces a magnetic field in the main ionization chamber 5, and the alternating magnetic field induces a vortex electric field againVortex electric fieldThe working medium is accelerated and ionized to obtain plasma, at the moment, the main ionization chamber 5 has high-density plasma, the plasma is transported to the ion leading-out system 8, ions in the plasma are led out and accelerated to generate thrust under the action of the ion leading-out system 8, the led-out and accelerated ions are marked plume parts in the figure 1, and as the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 is positioned between the main ionization chamber 5 and the ion leading-out system 8, small parts of the plasma in the main ionization chamber 5 can be diffused to the auxiliary ionization chamber 7, and the plasma on the auxiliary ionization chamber 7The coil continuously provides power to maintain the plasma entering the auxiliary ionization chamber 7, the unionized working medium can be ionized under high power, and finally the electrons e in the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 are led out through the electron leading-out system 9, so that the neutralization of the ions and the electrons e is realized.

In the embodiment, an auxiliary ionization chamber 7 is communicated with the side surface of a main ionization chamber 5, the main ionization chamber 7 and the auxiliary ionization chamber 7 share one set of radio frequency source 1 and impedance matching network 2, the ionized plasma in the main ionization chamber 5 is divided into two parts, most of the ionized plasma is transported to an ion extraction system 8, ions are extracted and accelerated to generate thrust, the other part of the plasma is diffused and transported to the auxiliary ionization chamber 7, and electrons in the part of the plasma are extracted by an electron extraction system 9 to be used for neutralizing the ions. The electronic extraction system 9 and the ion extraction system 8 share a set of direct current high voltage source, and the extraction voltage of the electronic extraction system 9 is adjusted by a voltage-adjusting resistor. The present embodiment provides a more simplified thruster structure compared to existing thrusters.

The principles and embodiments of the present invention have been described herein using specific examples, which are provided only to help understand the method and the core concept of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, the specific embodiments and the application range may be changed. In view of the above, the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the invention.