Ion thruster and method for fabrication thereof

A method for fabricating an ion thruster, comprising:

• a first step of stacking and laminating a first plurality of prefabricated green ceramic chips to form a front portion, the front portion including a cathode hole and an air intake hole;
• a second step of stacking and laminating a second plurality of prefabricated green ceramic chips to form a rear portion, the rear portion including a middle portion in which a reaction chamber is located and a tail portion, the middle portion including a tapered portion and a barrel portion;
• wherein a prefabricated carbon block having a profile matched with a matching profile of the reaction chamber is placed inside the reaction chamber and an anode metal layer is formed on a surface of the prefabricated carbon block at a position corresponding to the tapered portion;
• and
• wherein the tail portion includes an accelerating grid cathode and an accelerating grid anode having a plurality of jet orifices, with the accelerating grid anode and the accelerating grid cathode oppositely arranged at a certain distance, a lead-out electrode passing through the tapered portion, and a permanent magnet slot being formed on an outer surface of the middle portion;
• a third step of assembling the front portion and the rear portion and placing both into a sintering mold, and allowing the front portion to be closely fitted with the tapered portion of the rear portion such that the cathode hole and the air intake hole communicate with the reaction chamber;
• a fourth step of placing a main cathode into the cathode hole and filling the cathode hole with a ceramic slurry to fix the main cathode;
• and
• a fifth step of placing the sintering mold in a heating furnace for sintering.