Wall current closure effects on plasma and sheath fluctuations in Hall thrusters

The excitation of negative energy, ion sound type modes driven by the E x B drift and the reactive/dissipative response of the wall sheath interface is analyzed for conditions typical in a Hall thruster. Such sheath impedance modes are sensitive to the dielectric properties of the thruster wall material, which therefore may have direct influence (other than via the secondary electron emission) on fluctuations and transport. Our results predict mode frequencies consistent with the frequencies of fluctuations observed experimentally. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.