Test arrangements
The LVTF-1 is equipped with a water cooled beam target is mounted at the chamber end opposite w.r.t. the cryogenic system. The target is covered with pure graphite plates to minimise sputtering toward the thruster. The interior of the test facility is also fully lined with pure graphite panels. To date, two thruster position along the chamber axis can be chosen:
- Station 1: in front of the cryopanels, 7.5 m from the beam target, ~80 m of free firing volume;
- Station 2: behind the cryopanels, >10 m from the beam target, ~108 m of free firing volume.
The high vacuum gauges are located on the chamber at the following axial distances from the thruster station 1:
| |
Ioni 1 |
Ioni 2 |
Ioni 3 |
Penning |
| Axial Distance (m) |
0 |
0.6 |
1.8 |
5.8 |
A rotating semicircular boom is installed inside the chamber so as to describe a hemisphere with a radius of 1 m, in front of the thruster station 1. The beam diagnostics mounted on the boom include Faraday Probes and Retarding Potential Analysers. The boom is moved by a stepper motor with a step angle of 0.45 deg and can perform a 180 deg rotation (-90 deg to +90 deg off axis). The stepper motor is controlled by a PC based system. The angular position accuracy of the probes is less than 0.5 deg, the radial distance accuracy less than 0.1%.
