The plasma contacting process is described and experiments are discussed that suggest the key role that cold ions play in establishing a low impedance plasma bridge that can conduct current in either direction between a contactor electrode and a dilute plasma. A ring cusp contactor is shown to provide from 1000-mA of electron emission to 500-mA of electron collection as its bias relative to a simulated space plasma is varied through an 80-v range.
Plasma contactor design for electrodynamic tether applications
Advances in Space Research ; 8 , 1 19
1988-01-01
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
Plasma contactor design for electrodynamic tether applications
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