Modelling the effect of deposited grid material on the power coupling of radio frequency ion thrusters

For radio-frequency(RF) ion thrusters, under nominal operating conditions, sputtering of the screen grid can lead to the formation of a conductive film of the grid material on the inner walls of the discharge chamber which leads to a decrease in RF coupling to the plasma. When the ion beam becomes unfocused, either due to off nominal operating conditions or as a result of lifetime degradation, this process can be accelerated. An RF ion thruster performance model is developed, which can quantitatively simulate the performance degradation caused by sputter deposition on the thruster. This model couples an RF power transmission model, a zero-dimensional thruster discharge chamber model, and a sputter deposition model. An experiment that intentionally enhances the erosion of the accelerator grid to accelerate the formation of the conductive film confirms the power transmission process described by the model. As a result, the deposition on the discharge chamber walls primarily originates from the sputtering of the accelerator grid by the ion beam. At a xenon flow rate of 0.63 sccm and RF power of 42 W, a 2.015 μm copper film deposited on the walls resulting in a decrease in thruster screen grid current. The simulated results indicate that the power absorbed by the plasma decreases after deposition, which is the primary cause of the screen grid current reduction. Using materials with low conductivity for the deposition layer in the construction of the accelerator grids can reduce the impact of the deposition layer on the thruster screen grid current. © The Author(s) 2025.