On the potential distribution in hall thrusters

A model of the plasma flow in the hall thruster channel was developed that takes into account the two-dimensional current conservation effect and relies on some experimental input parameters. The model was used to predict the nonuniform potential distribution across the thruster channel that has been seen in experiments. It was found that the effect can be explained by the change of the electron mobility across the magnetic field due to a magnetic field gradient and due to the electron current along the magnetic field driven by an electron temperature gradient. It was concluded that the potential structure jet in which the peak of the electric field is shifted downstream along the channel centerline can be found under various conditions.