Studies of ExB Discharges for Plasma Propulsion and Materials Processing
Abstract: In ExB discharges, the external magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the discharge current in order to generate a strong electric field.1 Such discharges are used for plasma sources with applications to electric propulsion (e.g. Hall thrusters), materials processing (e.g. Penning plasma sources), and measurement devices (Penning vacuum gauge). In this talk, I will discuss some key physics and engineering challenges and recent advances in understanding and control of plasma-wall interactions and main instabilities in Hall thrusters [1] and Penning discharge [2]. I will also talk on emerging materials processing applications of ExB discharges such as functionalization of 2D nanomaterials [3]. Finally, I will introduce and give a brief overview of the Princeton Collaborative Research Facility (http://pcrf.pppl.gov) - a new PPPL project in the area of low temperature plasma supported by the US DOE Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences.
References
[1] I. Kaganovich, A. Smolyakov, Y. Raitses, E. Ahedo, I. Mikellides, B. Jorns, F. Taccogna, R. Gueroult, S. Tsikata, A. Bourdon, J. P. Bouef, M. Keidar, A. Powis, M. Merino, M. Cappelli, K. Hara, J. Carlsson, N. Fisch, P. Chabert, I. Schweigert, T. Lafleur, K. Matyash, A. Khrabrov, R. Boswell, and A. Fruchtman, “Physics of ExB discharges relevant to plasma propulsion and similar technologies”, Phys. Plasmas 27, 120601 (2020)
[2] E. Rodriguez, V. Skoutnev, Y. Raitses, A. Powis, I. Kaganovich, and A. Smolyakov, “Boundary-induced effect on the spoke-like activity in E x B plasma”, Phys. Plasmas 26, 053503 (2019)
[3] F. Zhao, Y. Raitses, X. Yang, A. Tan, C. G. Tully, "High hydrogen coverage on graphene via low temperature plasma with applied magnetic field", Carbon 177, (2021)
Bio: Yevgeny Raitses is a Principal Research Physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He is an expert in experimental plasma physics. He has an extensive publication record with over 200 publications on physics of plasma thrusters, plasma-surface interactions, nanosynthesis plasmas, cross-field discharges, and plasma diagnostics. Dr. Raitses is leading PPPL research efforts in plasma propulsion (http://htx.pppl.gov) and nanomaterials synthesis (http://nano.pppl.gov). He is the Director of the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (http://pcrf.pppl.gov). He is also an Associate Editor of Journal of Applied Physics.
