Particle simulation of electrodeless plasma thruster with rotating magnetic field

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations in an acceleration area were conducted to improve thrust performance of an electrodeless-electromagnetic propulsion using a rotating magnetic field (RMF) and a magnetic nozzle. In investigation of RMF parameters dependence, we found that ohm's law between E_z and J_z does not hold in the experimental conditions. The phase difference between E_z and J_z causes a contraction motion in the plasma and degrades the thrust when B_ω is strong and f is high. We also found that B_mz is harmful for the thrust generation and there is an optimum value of B_mr via investigation of magnetic-nozzle-parameters dependence. The optimum B_mr, which is numerically and theoretically obtained, is the same strong as B_ω; however, the particle acceleration is insufficient in the experiments because B_mr is ten times stronger than B_ω. The RMF thruster has potential for obtaining the higher thrust performance if the parameters of the magnetic nozzle are adequately selected.