Mechanism and operation parameters of a plasma-driven micro-particle accelerator

• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2009,（4）
• 页码范围: 616-622
• 页数: 7页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-009-0039-0

摘要

There is a large amount of micro debris ranging between millimeters and micrometers in space, which has significant influence on the reliability and life of spacecrafts through long-duration integrated im-pacts and has to be considered in designing a vehicle's suitability to the space environment. In order to simulate the micro-impacts on exposed materials, a plasma-driven micro-particle accelerator was de-veloped. The major processes, including the acceleration, compression and ejection of plasmas, were modeled. By comparing the theoretical simulations with the experimental results, the acceleration mechanism was clarified. Moreover, through a series of experiments, the optimum operation range was investigated, and the acceleration ability was primarily determined.