Optimization of Geometric Parameters of the Antenna System for ICR Heating by the Magnetic Beach Method in an Electrodeless Plasma Thruster

Abstract Geometric parameters and shape of the RF antenna must be optimized precisely for efficient ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) heating of plasma by the magnetic beach method in electrodeless plasma thrusters (EPT). To this end, in the present work, we carried out full-wave simulation of the excitation of eigenmodes of the magnetized plasma column by ion-cyclotron (IC) antennas taking into account the radial inhomogeneity of the plasma column and spatial dispersion of the electron and ion dielectric response. Both the total energy deposited by the antennas into plasma and its distribution between the Alfvén eigenmodes of the plasma column and the Alfvén continuum were obtained as a result of the simulation. The simulation was performed for three most popular types of antennas used for the ICR plasma heating in the PS-1 setup. The efficiencies of these types of antennas are compared and the optimal length of each of them is determined.