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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Conde, LCorresponding AuthorGonzalez, JAuthorDonoso, JmAuthorDomenech-Garret, JlAuthor

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January 8, 2026
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Article
Hybrid Gold

Thrust measurements and mesothermal plasma plume of the Alternative Low Power Hybrid Ion Engine (alphie)

Publicated to: Journal of Electric Propulsion. 1 (1): 24- - 2022-11-14 1(1), DOI: 10.1007/s44205-022-00027-6

Authors:

Conde, L; Gonzalez, J; Donoso, J M; Domenech-Garret, J L; Castillo, M A
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Affiliations

Aernnova SAU, Ave Manoteras 20 - Author
DIFFER Dutch Inst Fundamental Energy Res, Zaale 20 - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Fis Aplicada, Cardenal Cisneros 3 - Author
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Abstract

The high specific impulse Alternative Low Power Ion Engine (alphie) is a gridded plasma thruster different from conventional (Kaufman) ion engines. In this disruptive concept, the ionization of the propellant neutral gas and the neutralization of ion outflow is achieved with only one cathode located in front and outside of the thruster. Electrons and ions move under the self-consistent field created by the DC voltage applied to its two planar grids together with the currents of charges flowing through them, unlike to conventional ion engines, where only ions move through its ion optics system. The stationary mesothermal flow of ions and electrons in the plasma plume is characterized with a retarded field energy analyzer in conjunction with Langmuir and emissive probes. The ion velocity distribution functions and the electron energy spectra for different operating conditions of the alphie thruster are discussed. The observed high ion temperatures are explained by the collisional interaction between the fast ionizing electrons and the neutral atoms that increases their average kinetic energy. Finally, the alphie delivers 0.8-3.5 mN throttleable thrusts giving specific impulses in the range of 14000-20000 s with estimated thruster efficiencies between 8% and 40%.
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Keywords

Affordable and clean energyIon engineIon velocity distributionPlasma plumeSpecific impulse

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal of Electric Propulsion, Q4 Agency Scopus (SJR), its regional focus and specialization in Aerospace Engineering, give it significant recognition in a specific niche of scientific knowledge at an international level.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-27:

  • Open Alex: 1
  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 3 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/92897/
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 7 - Affordable and clean energy, with a probability of 90% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Netherlands.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (CONDE LOPEZ, LUIS) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been CONDE LOPEZ, LUIS.

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