Ion engine

Claim 2

In an ion engine with means defining a fuel conveying system and means defining a gas discharge chamber into which fuel enters in a gaseous form, means defining a high frequency resonator, said gas discharge chamber being part of said high-frequency resonator for effecting ionization of the gaseous fuel, means defining an accelerating electrode system at one end of said gas discharge chamber for extracting ionized gaseous fuel from said gas discharge chamber and accelerating same thus creating an accelerated ion beam and means for neutralizing the accelerated ion beam, the improvement comprising said accelerating electrode being arranged adjacent to said open end of said high-frequency resonator, said high-frequency resonator producing a standing wave having a node in the center of said high-frequency resonator and an oscillation loop at said open end.

Claim 3

The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said high-frequency resonator is a lambda /2-resistor wherein lambda is the wave length of standing wave.

Claim 4

The improvement according to claim 2, wherein said lambda /2-resonator consists of two coupled lambda /4-resonators, of which only one is used for producing the high-frequency alternating field and is connected to the other resonator by coupling elements.

Claim 5

The improvement according to claim 1, wherein said open end of said resonator which defines said gas discharge chamber is closed by a grid plate made of dielectric material.

Claim 6

The improvement according to claim 4, wherein said dielectric material is quartz.

Claim 7

In an ion engine having means defining a discharge chamber closed off by a perforated wall, a gaseous fuel supply system communicating with the discharge chamber and supplying thereto electrically neutral fuel in gaseous form, a high-frequency generator operable to ionize the gaseous fuel in the discharge chamber, a perforated acceleration electrode mounted in electrically insulated relation, in outwardly spaced relation to the perforated wall of the discharge chamber and pulling the ionized fuel out of the discharge chamber and accelerating the ionized fuel electrostatically to create an accelerated ion beam, and means operable to neutralize the accelerated ion beam, the improvement comprising said discharge chamber forming part of a high-frequency resonator having a cylindrical wall closed at one end by said perforated wall, said resonator containing said high-frequency generator and said fuel supply system; said high-frequency generator energizing said resonator at its given frequency and producing, in said high-frequency resonator, a standing electrical wave having a node located intermediate the ends of said resonant chamber; and dielectric means mountIng said acceleration electrode on said cylindrical wall adjacent the open end of said high-frequency resonator.

Claim 8

In an ion engine having means defining a discharge chamber closed off by a perforated wall, a gaseous fuel supply system communicating with the discharge chamber and supplying thereto electrically neutral fuel in gaseous form, a high-frequency generator operable to ionize the gaseous fuel in the discharge chamber, a perforated acceleration electrode mounted in electrically insulated relation, in outwardly spaced relation to the perforated wall of the discharge chamber and pulling the ionized fuel out of the discharge chamber and accelerating the ionized fuel electrostatically to create an accelerated ion beam, and means operable to neutralize the accelerated ion beam, the improvement comprising said discharge chamber forming part of a high-frequency resonator having a cylindrical wall closed at one end by said perforated wall, said resonator containing said high-frequency generator and said fuel supply system; said high-frequency generator energizing said resonator at its given frequency and producing, in said high-frequency resonator, a standing electrical wave having a node located intermediate the ends of said resonant chamber; and dielectric means mountIng said acceleration electrode on said cylindrical wall adjacent the open end of said high-frequency resonator.

Claim 9

The improvement according to claim 6, wherein said high-frequency resonator is a lambda /2-resonator, wherein lambda is the wave length of the standing wave.