空间环境模拟用ECR等离子体源标准装置研究

Development of Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Source for Space Environment Simulator:An Instrumentation Study

研究了以微波ECR等离子体源作为等离子体发生器的空间环境模拟装置。试验以氩气为放电气体,通过分析气压、微波功率、磁场等放电条件对微波ECR等离子体源的耦合作用,并结合COMSOL软件进行仿真验证,实现了等离子体电子密度、电子温度等特征参数的大范围可控调节。在等离子体源放电腔的出口处设计了扩散杯和栅网两种引出结构,使用不同类型和尺寸的Langmuir探针分别测量了两种引出结构下真空腔室内等离子体参数的径向变化,得到了引出结构对等离子体均匀性和稳定性的影响,分析比对了不同Langmuir探针的测试结果,得到一组最优等离子体诊断方式。这些工作对后续等离子体源标准装置研制和校准技术研究具有参考意义。

A novel type of microwave electron cyclotron resonance(ECR) plasma source was developed for the project of space environment simulator.The original work was the two plasma extraction structures,i.e.a diffusion-cup and a mesh-grid.The influence of the discharge conditions,including the argon pressure,microwave power,magnetic field distribution and self-developed plasma extraction structures,on the plasma properties,such as the density and temperature distributions of electron was experimentally evaluated with Langmuir probes and numerically simulated with COMSOL software.The results show that the e-density and e-temperature distributions can be well controlled in a fairly wide range by precisely adjusting the discharge conditions,particularly the "big" coil current for generation of ECR magnetic field,and that the extraction structures significantly affect the plasma uniformity and stability.The measured results show that the newly-developed ECR plasma source well satisfied the stringent design requirements.