Measurement of XeI and XeII velocity in the near exit plane of a low-power Hall effect thruster by light induced fluorescence spectroscopy

Abstract: Near exit plane non-resonant light induced fluorescence spectroscopy is performed in a Hall effect low-power Xenon thruster at discharge voltage of 250V and anode flow rate of 0.7mg/sec. Measurement of the axial and radial velocity components are performed, exciting the 6s[3/2]2-->6p[3/2]_2 transition at 823.16nm in XeI and the 5d[4](7/2)-->6p[3]_(5/2) transition at 834.724nm in XeII. No significant deviation from the thermal velocity is observed for XeI. Two most probable ion velocities are registered at a given position with respect to the thruster axis, which are mainly attributed to different areas of creation of ions inside the acceleration channel. The spatial resolution of the set-up is limited by the laser beam size (radius of the order of 0.5mm) and the fluorescence collection optics, which have a view spot diameter of 8mm.