Jorge Gonzalez

The Alternative Low-Power Hybrid Ion Engine (alphie) is a new technology for space propulsion based on plasma. Its distinct characteristic is the counterflow of charges (ions and electrons) passing through its two-grid system. This means that electrons coming from an external cathode are accelerated toward the ionization chamber, in which a neutral gas (typically Ar) is injected. The strong magnetic field therein confines these electrons, which ionize and exchange energy with the propellant gas. Thus, the operation of alphie is strongly affected by the electrons coming from the external cathode and their collisions with the neutral atoms. This work studies the counterflow employing a particle-in-cell simulation of ions and electrons passing through a single hole as a function of the electron cathode currents (Ice) and potential drops between grids (VAC). Transparency of the grid system to ions and electrons and the ion current extracted by the grid system are studied under sweeps of these two parameters. The number of ionization events by each high-energy electron entering the ionization chamber is evaluated using a physical model based on the gas density and the cross section for ionization. These new ions are then extracted by the same electric field that accelerates the electrons inward. Thus, simulations are self-consistent, since the ionizing electron flow from the external cathode drives the ion outflow at the exit section of the two-grid system. The electrical transparency of the two-grid system to ions and electrons, related to the axial charge currents, is also studied under sweeps of aforementioned operation parameters. This new way to deal with ionizations can be useful to study other plasma thrusters in which electrons for ionization come from an external cathode without modeling the complex structure of the ionization chamber.

Laser-driven tin plasmas are driving new-generation nanolithography as sources of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation centered at 13.5 nm. A major challenge facing industrial EUV source development is predicting energetic ion debris produced during the plasma expansion that may damage the sensitive EUV channeling multilayer optics. Gaining a detailed understanding of the plasma dynamics and ion acceleration mechanisms in these sources could provide critical insights for designing debris mitigation strategies in future high-power EUV sources. We develop a fully kinetic model of tin-EUV sources using one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study ion debris acceleration, which will be valuable for cross-validation of radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. An inverse-bremsstrahlung heating operator is used to model the interaction of a tin target with an Nd:YAG laser, and thermal conduction is included through a Monte Carlo Coulomb collision operator. While the large-scale evolution is in reasonable agreement with analogous hydrodynamic simulations, the significant timescale for collisional equilibration between electrons and ions allows for the development of prominent two-temperature features. A collimated flow of energetic ions is produced with a spectrum that is significantly enhanced at high energies compared to fluid simulations. The dominant acceleration mechanism is found to be a large-scale electric field supported mainly by the electron pressure gradient, which is enhanced in the kinetic simulations due to the increased electron temperature. We discuss the implications of these results for future modeling of tin-EUV sources and the development of debris mitigation schemes.