Design and Testing of a Heaterless Hollow Cathode

To promote undergraduate research on Hollow Cathodes, Rose-Hulman Electric Propulsion Group developed a low-current Heaterless Hollow Cathode. This paper presents the design and testing of a low-current Heaterless Hollow Cathode. Differences to conventional cathode designs, and a detailed testing procedure will be covered. Furthermore, a characterization setup will be proposed. Ignition of the cathode was achieved. However, a lack of discharge current was observed during the experimental campaign. The cathode was observed to be operating in space charge-limited mode.