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OPEN Thirty percent conversion efficiency

from radiofrequency power
to thrust energy in a magnetic
nozzle plasma thruster
Kazunori Takahashi
Innovations for terrestrial transportation technologies, e.g., cars, aircraft, and so on, have driven
historical industries so far, and a similar breakthrough is now occurring in space owing to the
successful development of electric propulsion devices such as gridded ion and Hall effect thrusters,
where solar power is converted into the momentum of the propellant via acceleration of the ionized
gases, resulting in a high specific impulse. A magnetic nozzle (MN) radiofrequency (rf) plasma thruster
consisting of a low-pressure rf plasma source and a MN is an attractive candidate for a high-power
electric propulsion device for spacecraft, as it will provide a long lifetime operation at a high-power
level due to the absence of an electrode exposed to the plasma and a high thrust density. The high-
density plasma produced in the source is transported along the magnetic field lines toward the
open-source exit and the plasma is then spontaneously accelerated in the MN. By ejecting the plasma
flow from the system, the reaction forces are exerted to the thruster structure including the source
and the MN, and the spacecraft is resultantly propelled. The thruster will open the next door for space
technologies, while the performance of the MN rf plasma thruster has been lower than those of the
mature electric propulsion devices due to the energy loss to the physical walls. Here the thruster
efficiency of about 30%, being the highest to date in this type of thruster, is successfully obtained in
the MN rf plasma thruster by locating a cusp magnetic field inside the source, which acts as a virtual
magnetic wall isolating the plasma from the source wall. The increase in the thrust by the cusp can be
explained by considering the reductions of the loss area and the plasma volume in a thrust analysis
combining a global source model and a one-dimensional MN model.

Electric propulsion (EP) is one of the advanced transportation technologies in space and plays an important
role in space activities as a spacecraft engine in recent y­ ears1–3. The gaseous propellant is priorly ionized and the
charged particles in the plasmas are energized and accelerated by applying electromagnetic fields. As electric
power obtained by solar panels is converted into the kinetic energy of the propellant, the EP devices can provide
a high specific impulse, which corresponds to a thrust per unit mass of the propellant, compared with chemical
propulsion ­devices4. Representatively, EP devices such as gridded ion and Hall effect thrusters have been suc-
cessfully used in various space missions, e.g., SMART-1 ­mission5, Dawn ­mission6, BepiColombo ­mission7, and
Hayabusa 1 and 2 ­missions8,9. More recently, a new type of gridded ion thrusters utilizing iodine propellant has
been successfully operated in ­orbit10. In these types of thrusters, the ions are electrostatically accelerated and
exhausted together with the equal flux of the electrons supplied from neutralizers; zero net current exhausted
from the system is maintained. When DC electric power is coupled with the plasmas, the electrodes in the
thruster and the neutralizer have to be exposed to the plasmas and are often damaged by ion sputtering and
thermal load. Therefore, the lifetime of the thruster has been a critical issue and been extended by elaborating
designs of the gridded ion and Hall effect thrusters e.g., the 7-kW class NEXT ion thruster has been successfully
operated for about 50,000 h on the ground ­test11. The lifetime extension would become a challenging problem
when further increasing the operating power.
Some types of electrodeless plasma thrusters have been proposed and under investigation toward high-power,
long-lived, and high-thrust-density EP devices, e.g., a variable specific impulse plasma rocket (VASIMR) and a

1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980‑8579, Japan. 2Interdisciplinary Research
Center for Non‑equilibrium Plasma, Tohoku University, Sendai 980‑8579, Japan. email: kazunori.takahashi.e8@
tohoku.ac.jp

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MN radiofrequency (rf) plasma thruster, which is sometimes called a helicon thruster. In the former, most of the
electric power is coupled with the ions via an ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and their perpendicular
energy is converted into the directed axial energy by a magnetic nozzle (MN), where superconducting magnets
are required to apply the strong magnetic fields for the I­ CRH12. For the latter case, most of the rf power is trans-
ferred to the electrons via a Joule and/or helicon wave heating processes, providing the high-density plasma
production in the source, where the source can be operated with relatively low magnetic fi ­ elds13,14. As the electron
temperature is much larger than the ion temperature in the MN rf plasma thrusters, conversion processes from
the electron energy to the thrust energy are key issues to improve the thruster performance.
When applying the MN to the rf plasma source, a number of experiments have shown that the electric fields
are spontaneously formed and the ions in the high potential source are accelerated toward the low potential s­ ide15;
the energetic electrons overcoming the potential drop neutralize the accelerated i­ ons16. These observations have
indicated that the MN rf plasma thruster does not require a neutralizer. The role of the spontaneous electrostatic
acceleration is the conversion of the electron energy to the ion dynamic e­ nergy17. During the plasma expansion
in the MN, an internal azimuthal plasma current spontaneously develops due to the diamagnetic nature; the
axial Lorentz force arising from the diamagnetic current and the radial magnetic field increases the thrust, as
predicted and demonstrated by theories and ­experiments18–21. The conversion efficiencies from the rf power to
the thrust energy were about 0.5–5% in early e­ xperiments22–26 and approaches about 20% in recent y­ ears27, based
on the scientific insights into the thrust generation processes. Some models and experiments have identified that
the energy and momentum losses to the source wall yield the low thruster efficiency and the inhibition of the
loss by increasing the strength of the axial magnetic fields have been discussed and demonstrated so ­far28,29. The
efficiency of the thruster is still lower than the gridded ion and Hall effect thrusters, which is probably due to
insufficient inhibition of the plasma loss to the wall; it is crucial to improve the thruster performance step-by-step.
Here we report a 30% conversion efficiency from the rf power to the thrust energy in the MN rf plasma
thruster, which is the highest to date, where a cusp magnetic field is formed in the upstream side of the source
tube, while maintaining the MN structure downstream of the source. It is clearly observed that the plasma inside
the source tube is aligned along the cusp magnetic field; the upstream plasma is geometrically isolated from the
source wall, resulting in the inhibition of the plasma loss to the wall and the improvement of the thruster perfor-
mance. The detected thrust is consistent with the electron diamagnetic Lorentz force estimated from the radial
plasma profile. The result is qualitatively explained by an analysis combining a global source model and a one-
dimensional MN model, where changes in the effective loss area and the discharge volume are taken into account.

Experimental setup
The schematic of the experimental setup is shown in Fig.1a. The experiment is performed with the MN rf
plasma thruster consisting of an 11-cm-outer-diameter, 10.5-cm-inner-diameter, and 25-cm-long glass
source tube wound by a double-turn rf loop antenna centered at z = −13 cm and two solenoids centered at
z = −3.8 ± 0.2 cm and −22.5 ± 0.2 cm, which are labeled as “downstream” and “upstream” solenoids, respec-
tively. The axial position of the right-hand edge of the downstream solenoid holder is defined as z = 0 and the
open-source exit is set at z = −1 cm. The upstream side of the source tube is terminated by an insulator mica back
plate. The whole structure of the thruster is attached to a pendulum thrust balance immersed in a 1-m-diameter
and 2-m-long vacuum chamber evacuated to a base pressure less than 10−4 Pa by three turbomolecular pumping
systems. As it has already been reported that the better thruster performance can be obtained when introducing
the propellant gas near the open-source e­ xit30, argon gas is introduced from the ceramic tube located near the
thruster exit as seen in Fig.1a. The gas flow rate is maintained at 70 sccm (2.1 mg/s) and the pressure measured
at the chamber sidewall is about 28 mPa, which is ten times higher than the standard background pressure rec-
ommended for testing gridded ion and Hall effect thrusters. This is due to the limited effective pumping speed
(being about 4500 Ls−1 for argon), while no detectable change in the thrust of the MN rf plasma thruster has
been induced by the different pumping speeds giving the pressures of 28 mPa and 88 ­mPa31. DC solenoid cur-
rents IBup and IBdown are supplied to the upstream and downstream solenoids by dc power supplies, respectively,
for applying the magnetic fields. Each solenoid has a copper wire would around the solenoid holder 638 turns
(29 turns and 22 turns in the axial and radial directions). Figure 1b shows the calculated magnetic fields on the
z axis for various IBup and IBdown = 22.3 A, where the positive and negative currents provide the magnetic fields
directing rightward and leftward on their centers, respectively. Two-dimensional structures of the magnetic field
lines for (IBup , IBdown ) = (0, 22.3 A) and (−15 A, 22.3 A) are drawn in Fig. 1c and d, respectively. By supplying
the negative current for IBup, it can be seen that the zero axial magnetic field on the axis, called the cusp magnetic
field, is formed inside the source tube. The expanding magnetic field, i.e., the MN, is formed downstream of
the source tube, and no drastic change can be seen in the MN region when changing IBup. The rf loop antenna
is powered by a 13.56 MHz rf generator via an impedance matching box, where two variable capacitors in the
matching box are tuned in advance to minimize the rf power reflection during the plasma production and no
detectable power reflection can be seen for all the data. The plasma produced inside the source and expanding
along the MN is visually confirmed.
The axial displacement of the pendulum is induced by the plasma production, which corresponds to the
thrust, and is measured by a laser displacement sensor. The detailed procedure can be found in ‘Method’ section.
The absolute value of the thrust is obtained by multiplying a calibration coefficient relating the displacement to
the force (see ‘Method’ section). The thruster efficiency ηT is estimated from the measured thrust F, the mass
flow rate of the propellant ṁ, and the forward rf power Prf as

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(a) TMP
vacuum
gauge
gate valve

vacuum chamber
(1-m-diameter and 2-m-long)
thrust balance

gate valve
laser sensor rf antenna

TMP
downstream
solenoid
upstream source tube
solenoid

back LP
plate

gate valve
TMP
Ar Motor stage
IBup IBdown

dc power dc power mass flow

supply supply controller
(c) 20
matching rf generator IBup = 0A, IBdown = 22.3A
circuit
10
(b) 15A

r (cm)
10A 0
5A
0A
1 −5A -10
−10A
−15A
-20
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20
0.5 z (cm)
(d) 20
IBup = -15A, IBdown = 22.3A
Bz (kG)

0 10
r (cm)

0
-0.5
-10
zcusp

-1 -20
-20 -10 0 10 20 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20
z (cm) z (cm)

Figure 1.  Experimental setup and magnetic field structures. (a) Schematic diagram of the experimental
setup. (b) Calculated magnetic fields Bz on the z axis for various upstream solenoid currents IBup, where the
downstream solenoid current is maintained at IBdown = 22.3 A. The two-dimensional profiles of the magnetic
field lines for (c) (IBup , IBdown ) = (0, 22.3 A) and (d) (IBup , IBdown ) = (−15 A, 22.3 A). The axial position giving
the zero magnetic field on the radial center is defined as zcusp as drawn by the dotted line in (d). The bold red
lines and the blue-colored regions in (d) show the field lines intersecting the inner source wall at z = zcusp, and
the volume for the global model analysis. The cusp is formed for IBup < 0 and the axial position zcusp of the cusp
can be shifted by changing IBup, while no drastic change is seen in the MN region.

F2
ηT = , (1)
2ṁPrf

where the electric power for the solenoids is not taken into account here. Hence ηT indicates the conversion effi-
ciency from the rf power to the thrust energy. Furthermore, the rf power transfer efficiency ηp, which is defined
as the ratio of the power absorbed by the plasma to the rf power, is also assessed by measuring the rf antenna
current as described in ‘Method’ section, since it directly affects the plasma production and the resultant thrust
generation. A 3-mm-diameter planar Langmuir probe (LP), which radially faces, is mounted on an axially and

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(a) 100 40 100

80 80
30
60 60

ηT (%)

ηp (%)
F (mN)
20
40 40
Prf = 5kW
measured 10 IBdown=22.3 A
20 model 20
CAr = 70 sccm

0 0 0
−20 −10 0 10 20 −20 −10 0 10 20 −20 −10 0 10 20
IBup (A) IBup (A) IBup (A)

(b) 100 35 100

30
80 80
25
60 20 60

ηT (%)

ηp (%)
F (mN)

40 15 40
IBup=−15A
IBup=0A 10
IBdown=22.3 A
20 Ref 20
5 CAr = 70 sccm

0 0 0
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
Prf (kW) Prf (kW) Prf (kW)

(c) IBup (A) IBup (A) IBup (A)

0 −10 −20 0 −10 −20 0 −10 −20
100 35 100
30
80 80
25
60 20 60
ηT (%)

ηp (%)
F (mN)

40 15 40
Prf = 5 kW
measured 10 IBup / IBdown = −0.67
20 20 CAr = 70 sccm
5
0 0 0
0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30
IBdown (A) IBdown (A) IBdown (A)

Figure 2.  Characterized thruster performance. Measured thrust F, thruster efficiency ηT , and rf power transfer
efficiency ηp as functions of (a) IBup for IBdown = 22.3 A (filled red squares), (b) Prf for IBup = 0 A (open blue
circles) and for IBup = −15 A (filled red squares), and (c) IBup and IBdown with maintaining the constant ratio
of IBup /IBdown = −0.67 (filled red squares). The data from Ref.27 is plotted by crosses in (b) for comparison.
The open black triangles in (a) are obtained from the thruster model including the global source model and
the one-dimensional MN model, where the changes in the plasma loss area and the volume are considered and
ηp = 0.9 is used for the calculation. The thruster performance (F and ηT ) can be increased by forming the cusp
in the source (IBup < 0) as in (a, b) and by increasing the magnetic field strength as in (c), while the efficient rf
power coupling of ηp ∼ 90% is maintained for all the conditions. The maximum thruster efficiency of ηT ∼ 30%
is successfully obtained. The increase in the thrust can be qualitatively explained by the model as in Fig.1a.

radially movable motor stage. The ion saturation current Iis of the negatively biased LP is measured, which is
given by Iis = 0.61enp uB S with the elementary charge e, the plasma density np , the Bohm velocity uB , and the
detection area S of the LP. Typical electron temperature measured at (r, z) = (0, 10 cm) is about 6 ± 1 eV; the
plasma density for Iis = 1 mA can be roughly estimated as 3.8 ± 0.5 × 1017 m−3 /mA . As the Bohm velocity is
given by uB = (kB Te /mi )1/2 with the Boltzmann constant kB , the electron temperature Te , and the ion mass mi ,
1/2 1/2
Iis is proportional to np Te , being a rough indicator of the electron pressure ( pe = np kB Te) with an error of Te .

Results and discussion

Filled red squares in Fig. 2a show the measured thrust F, the thruster efficiency ηT , and the rf power transfer
efficiency ηp as functions of IBup for Prf = 5 kW and IBdown = 22.3 A. F and ηT slightly increase for IBup = 10
-15 A, which would be due to the increase in the magnetic field strength inside the source (see Fig.1b) and the

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resultant inhibition of the plasma loss to the source wall as reported in Ref.29. Very interestingly, the significant
increases in F and ηT can be obtained for IBup < 0 with the cusp inside the source, in spite of the decreases in
the source field strength as shown in Fig. 1b. The thruster efficiency of about ηT ∼ 27.5% can be obtained in the
range of −15 A ≤ IBup ≤ −10 A.
F, ηT , and ηp as functions of Prf are assessed when powering only the downstream solenoid, i.e.,
(IBup , IBdown ) = (0, 22.3 A), as plotted by open blue circles in Fig. 2b, and compared with the previous experi-
ment (crosses)27. It should be noted that IBdown = 22.3 A can provide the peak magnetic field strength being
close to the previous e­ xperiment27. The differences between the open blue circles and crosses are only the source
tube materials and sizes (10.5-cm-inner-diameter and 25-cm-long glass tube and 9.5-cm-inner-diameter and
20-cm-long ceramic tube for the present and previous experiments, respectively); the similar values of F, ηT , and
ηp are obtained. Red filled squares in Fig. 2b show the results for (IBup , IBdown ) = (−15 A, 22.3 A), indicating
the performance improvement by forming the cusp inside the source over the rf power range tested here. Only
the magnetic field strength can be controlled with the unchanged spatial structure of the magnetic field lines by
changing both IBup and IBdown while maintaining IBup /IBdown at a constant level. Figure 2c shows F, ηT , and ηp as
functions of IBup and IBdown under the condition of IBup /IBdown = −0.67. F and ηT continuously increases with
the increase in the field strength, being consistent with the earlier ­experiment20. For the maximum field strength
case of ( IBup , IBdown) = (−16.8 A, 25 A), the thruster efficiency of ηT ∼ 30%, being the highest to date, can be
successfully obtained. It is noted that ηp is about 90% for all the data in Fig. 2. The measured total resistance Rtotal
including the antenna ( Rvac ) and plasma ( Rp) resistances ranges from 4.5 to 6 , while the antenna resistance is
about 0.56 . Since the condition of Rtotal ≫ Rvac is maintained for all the conditions, the parametric change in
Rtotal within the range of 4.5–6.5  does not significantly affect ηp. This fact shows that the power absorbed by
the plasma is unchanged by the external parameters in the present experiment and implies that the enhanced
thrust is not due to the change in the rf power coupling but due to the presence of the cusp.
To understand the effect of the cusp, two-dimensional profiles of the ion saturation current Iis are taken and
shown in Fig. 3 for ( IBup, IBdown) = (a) (0 A, 22.3 A), (b) (−10 A, 22.3 A), and (c) (−15 A, 22.3 A). The plasma
follows the magnetic field lines and contact with the radial source wall upstream of the rf antenna for the no
cusp case as in Fig.3a. When the cusp is formed inside the source as in Fig. 3b and c, the nearly zero density is
observed in the peripheral region upstream of the cusp and the plasma is geometrically isolated from the wall.
This effectively decreases the plasma loss area to the wall and the discharge volume, whose effect will be incor-
porated in the simple model described later. It is noted that the off-axis density peak appears inside the source
and transported along the magnetic field lines as clearly seen in Fig. 3b and c. Such a structure has been observed
in a number of experiments and discussed with the electron heating by the rf electromagnetic fi ­ elds32–36; 2-D
simulations of wave-plasma interactions have shown the off-axis profile of the rf electromagnetic ­fields37,38. The
off-axis density peak is also reproduced in a 2-D particle-in-cell ­simulations39,40. Furthermore, a 2D simulation
with the cusp in the source have been performed more r­ ecently41, showing the off-axis density profile and the
reduction of the density near the wall upstream of the cusp.
The previous studies have shown that the Lorentz force due to the electron diamagnetic current and the radial
magnetic field in the MN increases the thrust and is the major component of the total thrust. The local Lorentz
force fDe is then described ­as20
Br ∂pe Br ∂Iis
fDe = − ∝− , (2)
Bz ∂r Bz ∂r
where the ion saturation current Iis is assumed to be proportional to the electron pressure. Figure 4a shows the
radial profile of Iis taken at z = 5 cm as a function of IBup , indicating the center-peaked and annular profiles
for IBup > 0 and IBup < 0, respectively. Figure 4b shows the local Lorentz force fDe calculated by Eq. (2) with
the measured Iis and the calculated magnetic fields. It can be found that the Lorentz force is generated near the
plasma edge where the pressure gradient is large. Assuming the axisymmetric profile of fDe , the Lorentz force
FDe integrated over the cross section is plotted by open circles in Fig. 4c, together with the measured thrust
F, where the error bar for FDe originates from the asymmetry between r > 0 and r < 0 in Fig. 4b. Since the
calculated FDe can qualitatively explain the variation in the thrust as seen here, it can be deduced that the
increase in the Lorentz force contributes to the performance improvement. It should be noted that the actual
thrust component due to the Lorentz force in the MN is obtained by the volume integration; only the qualitative
discussion can be made by using FDe.
For further understanding of the cusp effect on the thruster performance, the changes in the plasma loss
area and the volume are incorporated into a global source model connected to a one-dimensional MN model.
The details of the model are described in ‘Method’ section. Briefly, the electron temperature Te and the plasma
density ns in the source region are assumed to be uniform; the particle and power balance equations are numeri-
cally solved. As observed in Fig. 3b and c, the plasma is geometrically isolated from the source wall by the cusp,
resulting in the reduction of the loss area and the discharge volume. It is assumed that the plasma upstream of
the cusp is confined within the magnetic field lines (bold red lines in Fig. 1d) intersecting the inner source wall
at z = zcusp, where zcusp is the axial position giving the zero magnetic field on the radial center. It is assumed that
the loss area is the back and radial walls where the plasma contacts and the discharge volume is the blue-colored
region as shown in Fig. 1d. Substituting the plasma density and electron temperature in the source into the
one-dimensional MN model and the flux conservation law, the axial profiles of the velocity and density can be
obtained. Then the total thrust can be calculated from these physical quantities inside the source and in the MN.
It should be emphasized again that the model can be used only to qualitatively explain the increase in the thrust
by the cusp, since the loss area corresponding to the wall where the plasma contacts and the plasma volume do
not significantly change for IBup > 0.

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15 Iis (mA)
(a)
10
10

5
8

r (cm)
0

-5
6
-10

-15 4
15
(b)
10
2
5
r (cm)

0 0

-5

-10

-15
15
(c)
10

5
r (cm)

-5

-10

-15
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10
z (cm)

Figure 3.  Two-dimensional plasma mapping inside the source. Two-dimensional profiles of the ion saturation
current Iis of the LP, which roughly mirrors the electron pressure profiles, for (a) IBup = 0 A, (b) IBup = −10 A,
and (c) IBup = −15 A, together with the calculated magnetic field lines, where the downstream solenoid current
and the rf power are maintained at IBdown = 22.3 A and Prf = 5 kW, respectively. The profiles roughly follow
the magnetic field lines for all the cases. Especially, it can be found that the ion current close to zero is observed
at the peripheral region upstream of the rf antenna as in (b, c). The presence of the cusp provides the geometric
isolation of the plasma from the source wall.

Figure 5a shows ns and Te in the source as a function of IBup , where the axial position zcusp of the cusp is
shifted by IBup, implying that the source density can be increased by supplying the larger negative current IBup
to the upstream solenoid, i.e., by forming the cusp closer to the rf antenna. In this calculation, the rf power
transfer efficiency is maintained at ηp = 0.9 as observed in Fig.2a. Figure 5b shows the typical axial profiles of
the ion Mach number M and the plasma density np in the MN; it shows the ion acceleration and the density
decay along the MN. The total thrust, i.e., the axial momentum flux, is found to increase along the MN, where
the finally obtained thrust would correspond to Ttotal at the axial position where the plasma detachment occurs.
As the plasma detachment is still an open ­question42–46, Ttotal at z = 50 cm is used for discussion. The calculated
Ttotal at z = 50 cm and the thruster efficiency ηT are plotted by open triangles in Fig. 2a, where the analysis is
performed only for IBup < 0 as no cusp reducing the loss area and the plasma volume is formed for IBup > 0. It
is found that the model qualitatively explains the performance improvement for IBup < 0, i.e., by the cusp. This
indicates that the cusp acts as the virtual wall isolating the plasma from the source wall and reducing the particle
and energy losses to the physical walls.
As already described before, the thruster assessments have been performed with various designs and param-
eters; typical performance data from literature are summarized in Table 1. Figure 6 shows the thruster efficiency
ηT calculated from the measured thrust F, the rf power Prf , and the mass flow rate ṁ of the propellant, as a func-
tion of F/Prf . The performance data in Table 1 are plotted by open circles in Fig. 6 with the number corresponding
to the indexes labeled by the publication column in Table 1. The present data showing the maximum efficiency

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(a) Iis (mA)

(c)
18 3
1 100
12 2.5
6 2

IBup (A)
0 1.5
-6 1
-12 0.5

FDe (arb. unit)

-18 0
-12 -9 -6 -3 0 3 6 9 12

F (mN)
r (cm) 0.5 50
(b) fDe (arb. unit)
18 4
12
3
6 FDe
IBup (A)

2 F
0
-6 1
-12
0 0 0
-18 -20 -10 0 10 20
-12 -9 -6 -3 0 3 6 9 12 IBup (A)
r (cm)

Figure 4.  Qualitative estimation of the Lorentz force in the MN. Radial profiles of (a) the ion saturation current
Iis of the LP taken at z = 5 cm and (b) the relative value of the local electron-diamagnetic Lorentz force fDe
r
calculated from the measured Iis and the calculated magnetic fields. (c) The Lorentz force �FDe = 2π 0 rfDe dr
integrated over the cross section (blue open circles), together with the measured thrust F (filled red squares,
same data as Fig.2a).

10 4
18
(a) 10
M 3
Te
np (m )

np
−3

17
8 10
m )

2
−3

M
16
10 1
18

6 (b)
Te (eV), ns (×10

15
10 0
100
ns
4
Ttotal (mN)

50
2
(c)
0 0
−20 −10 0 10 20 0 10 20 30 40 50
IBup (A) z (cm)

Figure 5.  The results from the global source model and the one-dimensional MN model. (a) The plasma
density ns (blue filled squares) and electron temperature Te (red open circles) in the source, as a function of IBup.
Typical axial profiles of (b) the ion Mach number M, the plasma density np, and (c) the thrust Ttotal . The increase
in the source plasma density for IBup < 0 can be seen. The velocity increases and the plasma density decays
along the MN. The increase in Ttotal along the MN is confirmed. As the finally obtained thrust would depend
on the axial location of the plasma detachment, which is still an open question, Ttotal at z = 50 cm is used for
discussion and is plotted by open triangles in Fig. 2a.

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Prf F F/Prf η
Publications (kW) (mN) (mN/kW) (%)
1-Takahashi et al. ­APL201123 0.9 3 3.3 0.83
2-Pottinger et al. ­JPD201122 0.65 2.8 4.3 0.6
3-Takahashi et al. ­PRL201147 0.8 6 7.5 3.0
4-Charles et al. ­APL201248 0.8 5 6.3 2.1
5-Takahashi et al. ­PRL201320 1 11 11.0 8.4
6-Shabshelowitz and Gallimore ­JPP201324 1.5 11 7.33 0.58
7-Williams and Walker ­JPP201325 0.6 6 10 0.67
8-Takahashi et al. ­JPD201349 2 15 7.5 7.8
9-Charles et al. ­APL201350 0.9 6 6.7 2.3
10-Harle et al. ­PSST201351 0.4 1.1 2.75 0.25
11-Takahashi et al. ­PSST201452 2 20 10 13.3
12-Takahashi et al. ­PSST201553 6 58 9.7 13.3
13-Kuwahara et al. ­JPP201754 3 40 13.3 3.0
14-Oshio et al. ­IEPC201755 1 6 6.0 1.5
15-Trezzolani et al. ­IEPC201756 0.15 1.4 9.33 3.3
16-Trezzolani et al. ­IEPC201757 0.07 0.85 12.1 5.2
17-Takahashi et al. ­JPP202058 1 25 25 7.1
18-Navarro-Cavallé et al. ­IEPC201959 0.45 8.5 18.9 14.2
19-Takahashi et al. ­SciRep202127 6 69.63 11.6 19.24

Table 1.  Performances of the MN rf plasma thrusters from the literature.

0
10

19
12 18
−1
10 8 5 11 17
16
4
ηT

3 15 13
9
14
−2
10 1
2 6 7

10

−3
10
0 10 20 30
F/Prf (mN/kW)

Figure 6.  Thruster performances from literature and the present experiment. Thruster efficiency ηT versus
F/Prf from the published literature (open circles with the number corresponding to the indexes of the
publication column in Table 1) and the present data showing the maximum efficiency (a black filled circle). This
clearly shows the increase in the thruster efficiency compared with the previous studies.

is also plotted by a filled circle in Fig. 6, clearly indicating the increase in the thruster efficiency by the presence
of the cusp inside the source tube.
It should be noted again that the thruster efficiency is calculated from the rf power Prf from the rf generator;
hence it does not take the solenoid power and the power loss at the rf generator into account. The solenoids can
be partially replaced by permanent magnets as investigated in previous ­studies60–62. Furthermore, developments
of rf systems for the thrusters have also been progressed such as efficient switching-type rf ­generators63,64 and
compact frequency-tunable impedance matching ­techniques65,66. The system developments providing less power
losses at the solenoids and the rf generator, reducing the system size, and improving the controllability, remains
further challenging issues toward a flight model of the MN rf plasma thruster.
Even if no electrode is exposed to the plasmas, the insulator source wall will be sputtered when the energy of
the ions impinging the wall exceeds the threshold of the sputtering as being a crucial problem in the Hall effect
thrusters, where the accelerated ions having an energy close to the discharge voltage would be the major factor

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IB on

1.2
rf on
1.1

position (mm)
1

0.9

0.8

0.7
0 20 40 60
t (sec)

Figure 7.  Thrust measurement procedure. Typical raw signal from the laser displacement sensor (a gray thin
line), where the solenoid currents and the rf power are turned on for t ∼ 25 − −47 s and t ∼ 35 − −40 s,
respectively. A red bold line shows the filtered signal for minimizing the amplitude of the pendulum oscillation
and for estimation of the equilibrium positions for tuning on only the solenoid currents (t ∼ 27 − −35 s) and
for turning on both the solenoid currents and the rf power (t ∼ 35 − −40 s).

for the wall ­erosion67. The ions impinging the source wall in the MN rf plasma thruster is only accelerated by a
sheath at the wall, which has a voltage of about 5.2Te for ­argon68. As discussed by Del Valle et al., the threshold
energy of the sputtering for a quartz glass, being about 35 eV, is close to the typical sheath voltage in the low-
pressure rf ­discharge69. Therefore, the wall erosion induced by the sputtering will be minimized by choosing
the wall materials properly and by reducing the electron temperature near the wall (i.e., the sheath voltage). The
lifetime of the MN rf plasma thruster has not been verified yet and remains further development issue.

Conclusion
The thruster efficiency estimated from the measured thrust, the rf power, and the mass flow rate of the propellant,
is successfully increased up to about thirty percent by forming the cusp magnetic field at the upstream region of
the source. It is demonstrated that the cusp field geometrically isolates the plasma from the source wall, result-
ing in the increases of the thrust and the thruster efficiency. The performance improvement can be qualitatively
understood by considering the reductions of the plasma loss area and the discharge volume inside the source,
where the thruster analysis is made by combining the global source model and the one-dimensional magnetic
nozzle model. The presently reported thruster efficiency is the highest to date in this type of thruster called the
helicon thruster; the present results would lead to a new transportation technology in space, i.e., the high-power
and long-lived electric propulsion device.

Methods
Thrust measurement procedure. Argon gas is continuously introduced into the thruster in advance. A
gray line in Fig. 7 shows the raw signal from the laser displacement sensor, which contains the specific oscilla-
tion frequency of about 1 Hz due to the pendulum motion. The measured signal is converted into an amplitude
spectrum by a Fast Fourier transform and filtered in the frequency domain. The filtered amplitude spectrum is
converted into the temporal signal via a Inverse Fast Fourier transform as drawn by a red line in Fig. 7, minimiz-
ing the oscillation component of the pendulum.
After confirming a stable equilibrium position of the thrust balance (t ∼ 0–27 s), both the solenoid currents
( IBup and IBdown) are simultaneously turned on (at t ∼27 s in Fig. 7), where a rapid increase in the amplitude of
the pendulum motion and slight change in the equilibrium position can be seen for t ∼ 27–35 s due to the induc-
tions of the eddy current on the metallic materials and a magnetic force on magnetic materials (e.g., SUS304).
At t ∼ 35 s, the rf power is turned on for about 5 s, clearly showing the change in the equilibrium position for
t ∼ 35–40 s by the plasma production. The laser sensor signal gets back to the value at t ∼ 27–35 s after turning
off the rf power (t ∼ 40–47 s) and back to the initial equilibrium position after turning off the solenoid currents
(t > 47 s). The difference in the equilibrium positions for t ∼ 27–35 s (turning on only the solenoid currents)
and t ∼ 35–40 s (turning on both the solenoid currents and the rf power) gives the displacement induced only
by the plasma production, which does not contain the displacements induced by applying the magnetic field and
by injecting the gas. The absolute value of the thrust can be obtained by multiplying the calibration coefficient
described in the next section. Since the rf power is turned on only for 5 s in the present experiment, no significant
thermal drift has been seen as in Fig. 7.

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100

applied force (mN)

50

0
0 50 100
displacement (µm)

Figure 8.  Thrust balance calibration. Measured displacement (blue open circles) versus applied force, together
with a fitted linear line (a red solid line) giving the calibration coefficient.

Thrust balance calibration. Before pumping down the vacuum chamber, a calibration procedure is per-
formed by applying known axial forces to the thruster attached to the balance and measuring the displacement.
The measured displacement as a function of the applied force is plotted by blue open circles in Fig. 8. The lin-
earity is well maintained over the force of less than 100 mN at least; the characteristic can be fitted by a linear
line as drawn by a red sold line in Fig. 8. The fitted line gives the calibration coefficient as ∼ 1.045 mN/µm. It is
confirmed that the coefficient is unchanged after performing the experiment and venting the chamber.

RF power transfer efficiency. The rf power transfer efficiency ηp is defined as a ratio of the rf power
absorbed by the plasma to the total rf power. A well-known equivalent circuit model is used here to estimate ηp
70
. Assuming that the input rf power is dissipated by the plasma resistance Rp and the rf antenna resistance Rvac ,
the power transfer efficiency ηp can be given by
Rp Rtotal − Rvac
ηp = = , (3)
Rtotal Rtotal
where Rtotal is the total resistance during the plasma production. These resistances can be estimated by measur-
ing the rf antenna current by locating a Rogowski-type current sensor that can be used up to a frequency of
20 MHz (Pearson Electronics, Model 5046) and the net power of the rf generator, which simply corresponds to
the forward power minus the reflected power. The antenna resistance of Rvac ∼ 0.56  is obtained via the same
procedure with no gas injection and no plasmas. Since the rf antenna, the rf feedthrough, and the circuit com-
ponents in the matching box, are water-cooled at a constant temperature of 20 degrees C, the antenna resistance
Rvac is unchanged during the experiment.

Thruster model. An analysis combining a global source model and a one-dimensional MN model, which is
used for the analyses of the open triangles in Fig. 2a and the data in Fig. 5, is described here. The plasma density
ns and the electron temperature Te in the source are modeled from the power and particle balance equations
in the global model assuming uniform p ­ rofiles68. The balance equation between the particle generation by the
ionization process and the loss from the system is given as
Kiz ns ng V = ns uB Aeff , (4)
where Kiz , ng , V, and Aeff are the ionization rate constant, the neutral density, the plasma volume, and effective
plasma loss area, respectively. The description of Aeff and the approximated expression of Kiz can be found in
Ref.68 with the radial (hR) and axial (hL) center-to-edge density ratios. By numerically solving Eq. (4), the electron
temperature Te can be obtained for the given gas pressure and the source geometry. The power balance between
the input energy and the energy lost from the system is given as
ηp (Prf − Pref ) =ens Aeff uB ET , (5)
where Prf and Pref are the forward and reflected rf powers, respectively. In the present experiment, the reflected
power Pref is undetectable for all the data. ET is the energy loss due to collisional processes and electron-ion pairs
escaping from the system and can be written by
ET =Ei + Ee + Ec , (6)

Ei = 5.2Te (for argon), (7)

Ee = 2Te , (8)

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Kexc me Kel
Ec = Eiz + Eexc + 3 Te , (9)
Kiz mi Kiz
where Ei , Ee , Ec , Eiz , and Eexc are the ion kinetic energy loss, the electron kinetic energy loss, the collisional
energy loss, the ionization energy, and the excitation energy, respectively. In the calculation, the approximated
expression of the ionization ( Kiz ), excitation ( Kexc ), and elastic scattering ( Kel ) rate constants, which are func-
tions of the electron temperature Te , are u ­ sed68. Substituting Te obtained from Eq. (4) into Eq. (5), ns can be
numerically calculated for a given neutral density. Although the propellant gas is introduced near the thruster
exit in the present experiments, the simple gas model is considered here. When the gas is introduced into the
source at a constant mass flow rate ṁ, the local neutral density ng can be estimated from ṁ = mg ng vg As , where
mg , vg , and As are the neutral mass, the neutral velocity (assumed to be 400 ms−1), and the cross section of the
source tube, respectively.
As already mentioned in the ‘Results and discussion’ section, the upstream plasma is geometrically isolated
from the source wall when applying the cusp magnetic field, resulting in the reductions of the wall area where
the plasma contacts and the plasma volume are effectively reduced. This is geometrically estimated from the
magnetic field line intersecting the source inner wall at z = zcusp as drawn by the bold red lines and the blue-
colored region in Fig. 1d, where the plasma is assumed to be confined within the bold red lines in the upstream
region. These effects are taken into account by modifying the effective loss area Aeff and the plasma volume V in
Eq. (4, 5), where Aeff corresponds to the area of the wall to which the plasma (the blue-colored region) contacts,
and V is obtained by calculating the volume of the blue-colored region. As plotted in Fig. 5, the plasma density
in the source increases for IBup < 0 cases with the increase in |IBup |.
Once ns and Te in the source are obtained, the results are substituted into the one-dimensional MN m ­ odel71.
Briefly, the thrust is given by the sum of the electron pressure in the source and the Lorentz force exerted on
the MN as
 z
np kB Te A ∂Bz ′
Ttotal =ns kB Te As − − dz , (10)
0 Bz ∂z ′
where the axial momentum lost to the radial wall, which has been detected when the plasmas are significantly
­ all72, does not appear in the one-dimensional model and As is the cross section of the source. The
lost to the w
axial velocity of the ions can be given by a similar expression with the physical nozzle model as
   
M 2 − Mi2 M Bzi
− ln = ln , (11)
2 Mi Bz
where M is the ion Mach number and the subscript i denotes the value to the MN entrance. To connect the global
source model and the MN model, the plasma density and the ion Mach number at the MN entrance (i.e., at the
open-source exit) are assumed to be hL ns and Mi = 1, respectively. The assumption of Mi = 1 at the source exit
and the MN entrance, which corresponds to an energy of half an electron temperature, requires a density decay
by a factor of exp(−1/2) ∼ 0.6 according to the Boltzmann relation. This can be briefly validated by the density
profiles in Fig. 3. Furthermore, a number of experiments have shown the appearance of the supersonic ions near
the source ­exit14,15. The local plasma density np in the MN can be given from the particle flux conservation along
the MN and the magnetic flux conservation a­ s71,73
np MuB A =hL ns Mi uB As , (12)

Bz A =Bzi As . (13)
By numerically solving Eqs. (4–13), the source plasma density ns , the electron temperature Te , the local
plasma density np, the ion Mach number M, and the total thrust Ttotal can be obtained. It is noted that the inner
diameter (10.5 cm) and length (25 cm) of the source tube installed in the present experiment are used for all
the calculation.

Data availability
The data that support the figures within this paper are available from corresponding author upon reasonable
request.

Received: 24 June 2022; Accepted: 19 October 2022

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Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Grant Nos. 19H00663 and
21K18611) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fusion Oriented REsearch for disruptive Sci-
ence and Technology (FOREST) from Japan Science and Technology Agency (Grant No. JPMJFR212A), the
Casio Science Promotion Foundation, and Futaba Foundation.

Author contributions
K.T. designed the experiments, took and analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript.

Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.

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