Design of a hollow cathode thruster: concepts, parameter study and initial test results

Two electric propulsion concepts have been developed at Technische Universität Dresden as spin-off devices of regular hollow cathodes and initial testing has been conducted. Both devices represent millinewton thrusters that take advantage of thermionic electron emission using the low work function materials C12A7, LaB6, and thoriated tungsten in different design configurations. The first concept represents an electrothermal thruster which generates thrust by expanding and accelerating a heated propellant in a nozzle. Initial thrust measurement tests were carried out which showed thrust levels well above cold gas thrust, but low thrust efficiencies. The influence of different geometric parameters on the discharge properties and the performance is investigated and presented. The second thruster concept is a novel electromagnetic device in which charge carriers in a plasma discharge are accelerated by an applied magnetic field that is orthogonally oriented to the discharge current. Initial tests with C12A7 were not successful, but the functionality of the concept was shown by thrust measurements using a thoriated tungsten wire as an electron emitter.

Tip Treatment

This chapter discusses various methods for tip treatment. First, a general discussion about the experimental facts of STM and AFM tips is presented, which points to the subtleties and significance of the last few atoms at the tip apex. The standard method of making an STM tip is the electrochemical etching of a tungsten wire. The experimental procedure is described in detail. The study of the tip using field-ion microscopy is outlined. The tungsten tips freshly made from electrochemical etching often do not provide atomic resolution. Ex-situ and in-situ tip treatments are necessary. Several ex-situ tip treatment methods are described, inducing annealing, field evaporation, and annealing with a field. In-situ tip treatment method such as high-field treatment and controlled collision are described. Then, tip treatment for electrochemical STM is described. Tip treatment methods for spin-polarized STM are described. Finally, tip functionalization, especially with Xe atom and CO molecule, is described.

Micro-Slit Cutting in an Aluminum Foil Using an Un-Traveling Tungsten Wire

Microslit cutting in aluminum foils is considered to be difficult as aluminum foils have low hardness and deformability. In this study, a novel cutting method is proposed where a tungsten microwire is utilized as the tool to cut aluminum foil without tool traveling or spinning. A statics simulation is first performed to analyze the cutting mechanism. Further, a tungsten wire with a diameter of 50 μm is utilized as the tool and a series of experiments are carried to discuss how the feeding rate influences slit width and roughness. With optimal parameters, it takes only 100 s to fabricate a 5 mm long microslit with an average width of 48.75 μm, width standard deviation of 1.48 μm, and surface roughness of 0.110 μm when applying initial/secondary velocity of 50/50 μm·s−1.