Low Energy Surface Flashover for Initiation of Electric Propulsion Devices

An approach to utilize Low Energy Surface Flashover (LESF) for triggering the discharge in electric propulsion systems has been demonstrated. LESF uses conventional surface flashover mechanism with limited duration of high-current stage of the flashover below <100-200 ns. This eliminates the damage to the LESF assembly and allows robust operation of the same assembly for >1.5*10^6 consecutive flashovers. The amount of the seed plasma created in the individual LESF event was demonstrated to be sufficient to trigger a moderate current arc which models a discharge in an electric propulsion system.