Skip navigation
EPPL: Electric Propulsion and Plasma Laboratory

AAE521: Plasma Laboratory

 

3 credits (Spring Semester)

Course Description:

This teaching laboratory course is created to enhance the hands-on experience of students in the fields of electric propulsion, optical and microwave diagnostics, and plasma generation. University graduates are being hired by government labs and the aerospace industry to do experimental work in these areas, but they have very limited exposure to advanced experimental curricula. This course expands the practical skills of the students from the level of undergraduate teaching lab to the more complex environment of active experimental research lab and utilization of state-of-the-art experimental tools, techniques, and equipment.

The laboratory course includes lab prep lectures, practical classes, and mini-projects. Lab prep lectures briefly cover topics of basic plasma physics and diagnostics relevant to the subsequent practical classes. In addition, details of the corresponding lab procedure, instructions, and lab report assignment are discussed. Practical classes involve students in practical creation and operation of various plasma sources and plasma diagnostics. Specifically, students operate the DC high voltage breakdown facility, electrostatic accelerator (gridded ion thruster), cross-field accelerator (Hall thruster), and Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet facility, and conduct measurements of plasma parameters using Langmuir probes, microwave interferometer, and optical spectrometer diagnostic techniques.

 

Prerequisites:

AAE 590 Electric Propulsion or equivalent plasma course; permission of instructor.

 

By the end of the semester, successful students will be able:

  1. To operate various plasma sources including electrostatic accelerator, Hall accelerator, glow discharge, and atmospheric pressure discharge.
  2. To demonstrate practical skills in conducting measurements of basic electrical discharge parameters and thrust.
  3. To demonstrate practical skills in conducting measurements of plasma parameters using electrostatic Langmuir probes, optical spectroscopy, and microwave interferometry.
  4.  To demonstrate a fundamental understanding of basic concepts utilized in studied plasma diagnostic techniques.
  5. To demonstrate a fundamental understanding of various breakdown mechanisms including Townsend and streamer breakdown.

 

Topics Covered