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Design And Optimization Of An Electron Cyclotron Resonance Thruster, Austen Thomas

Masters Theses

Presented in this work is the process in the design and optimization of a coaxial electron cyclotron resonance thruster. Electron cyclotron resonance thrusters are novel microwave-based thrusters which possess select technological advantages over mature electric propulsion concepts such as being electrodeless and only requiring a single power source. The thruster constructed in this work is a coaxial configuration and is termed the Western electron cyclotron resonance thruster. Thruster dimensions were optimized based on past experimentation completed with ECR thrusters. In an attempt to enhance the microwave plasma coupling of the coaxial thruster design three different antenna configurations were considered: a …