Screen grid
Extracts ions from the discharge plasma and focuses them into beamlets.
Ion extraction & acceleration
Ion Optics
The Ion Optics subteam designs the two perforated grids that turn plasma into thrust. The screen grid pulls ions out of the chamber and shapes the beam; the potential difference to the accelerator grid accelerates them out of the thruster, while the accel grid’s negative bias keeps outside electrons from streaming back in.
Accelerator grid
Sets up the accelerating field and blocks back-streaming electrons.
Alignment & thermal
Mounting and spacing hardware holds the grids coaxial to tight tolerance, while conduction and radiation carry heat away to limit erosion.
Electrostatic modeling
Each grid iteration is checked in FEMM before anything is machined.