Hall Thrusters With Permanent Magnets: Current Solutions and Perspectives

We present a focused review of selected design solutions for the permanent magnet-based magnetic circuitry of Hall-type thrusters, with the emphasis on their relevance to miniaturized devices potentially suitable for application in CubeSats and other types of small satellites. Coaxial, cylindrical, and cusped designs of Hall-type thrusters are considered. The issues related to the influence of magnetic configurations on channel wear are also addressed. This paper also outlines a state of the art in the high-temperature permanent magnets and offers some perspective views onto the further development of miniaturized Hall-type thrusters. Several nontrivial design solutions are considered, and schematics of the potentially promising ones for the reduction of wear and damage were examined. Overall, this paper demonstrates the usability and several significant advantages of Hall thrusters with permanent magnetic system.