Effects of Axial and Radial Components of Magnetic Field on the Electromagnetic Resistive Instabilities in Hall Thruster Plasma

Abstract A theoretical model is developed to investigate the effect of the axial component of the magnetic field on the electromagnetic resistive instabilities in the Hall thruster. The axial component of the magnetic field plays a vital role in controlling the plasma flow and generating thrust in the Hall thruster. It also affects the magnetic topology and magnetic field lines in the Hall thruster. In the present paper, a dispersion relation for the electromagnetic resistive instabilities under the influence of the axial component of the magnetic field is derived. The obtained dispersion equation is solved numerically to study the propagating and growing waves in the magnetized plasmas. It is observed that the growth rate decreases with an axial component of the magnetic field, but it increases with a radial component of the magnetic field. When the axial component of the magnetic field is considered, the amplitude of the growth rate of the resistive instability dropped with azimuthal wavenumber, collision frequency and electron drift velocity by almost 21%, 35%, and 33%, respectively. When the value of drift velocity exceeds 4 ×106 m s−1, the influence of the axial component of the magnetic field appeared, and the growth rate reduced drastically.