This Paper explores keeper ignition and discharge characteristic of a hollow cathode center mounted on a Hall thruster to discuss the optimum startup sequence. A strong magnetic field along the hollow cathode in the center-mount configuration is considered to play an important role in the ignition and discharge; however, the characteristics in this configuration has never been reported. The effect of cathode mass flow rate on the ignition and discharge with 3 A keeper ignition is examined both with and without magnetic field. The influence of cathode heater power and flow from the anode is also investigated. The lower flow rate causes strong ionization instability, while the higher flow rate seems to induce ion acoustic turbulence. Applied magnetic field improves the ionization instability due to the decrease in electron temperature through plasma production. These results indicate ignition sequences over $1.5\mathrm{mg/s}$ flow rate with magnetic field appear promising. On the other hand, the confined electrons around the magnetic field line prevent the initiation of the discharge. The ignition and instability are improved with high heat-up power because more thermionic emission is obtained. The anode flow provides slight improvement to the characteristics. The Fourier transform also demonstrates the presence of ionization instability and ion acoustic turbulence. The behavior of peak frequencies of ionization instability can be explained based on the predator–prey theory.

本文探讨了安装在霍尔推进器上的空心阴极中心的保持器点火和放电特性，以讨论最佳启动顺序。在中心安装结构中，沿着空心阴极的强磁场被认为在点火和放电中起着重要的作用。但是，这种配置的特性从未被报道过。在有磁场和无磁场的情况下，都要检查阴极质量流量对3 A保持器点火时点火和放电的影响。还研究了阴极加热器功率和来自阳极的流量的影响。较低的流速导致强烈的电离不稳定，而较高的流速似乎引起离子声湍流。由于通过等离子体产生使电子温度降低，因此施加的磁场改善了电离不稳定性。这些结果表明点火顺序超过$1.5\mathrm{毫克/秒}$磁场的流速似乎很有希望。另一方面，磁场线周围的受限电子阻止了放电的开始。因为获得了更多的热电子发射，所以在高加热功率下改善了点火和不稳定性。阳极流对特性有轻微的改善。傅立叶变换还证明了电离不稳定性和离子声湍流的存在。电离不稳定性峰值频率的行为可以根据捕食者－食饵理论来解释。