A common form of sophisticated electric propulsion technology in spacecraft is the Hall thruster. The traditional annular closed-loop Hall thrusters are unable to carry out the 2D distribution diagnosis of plasma inside the discharge channel due to structural limitations. In order to address this issue

an unclosed-loop linear channel E×B Hall thruster with optical diagnostic windows was constructed

the magnetic and flow fields inside the thruster were simulated and evaluated

and magnetic field design principles were suggested. Further

this paper verified the effective plasma confinement and electromagnetic field acceleration by the linear discharge channel configuration through steady-state discharge parameter monitoring

transient discharge oscillation analysis

plasma parameter diagnosis in the beam region

and plasma distribution structure imaging in the ionized region inside the discharge channel. The discharge mode regulation based on the discharge voltage was realized

and the evolutionary tendency of the discharge mode with the propellant flow rate was identified. Finally

this paper successfully obtained the 2D distribution fine structure of plasma inside the discharge channel on the magnetic field configuration profile. In summary

this paper realized the stable discharge and mode regulation of the plasma in the E×B field of a Hall-like thruster under a simple device

combined with the optical diagnosis of the distribution structure of the plasma in the two-dimensional plane

and put forward a new idea for the further microscopic manifestation of the typical discharge oscillation process of a Hall thruster.