Mini-Helicon Thruster Experiment at MIT

A mini-Helicon Thruster Experiment (mHTX) is in operation at MIT for under a year. The compact helicon plasma source has an electrical propulsion-oriented design and already demonstrated unusually strong collimated plume production when operating with Ar, N$_{2}$, Xe, Ne gases and mixtures including air. The RF power-to-plasma coupling as well as gas-to-plasma conversion has exceeded 90{\%} in optimal magnetic field and antenna configurations. We report recent mHTX experimental and theoretical results that include i)~thrust force measurement, ii)~plasma diagnostics, iii)~power balance analysis, and iv)~numerical simulation of the mini-helicon discharge.