Davide Maddaloni performed a research internship at ONERA Palaiseau in October-December 2023, under the supervision of Victor Desangles and Federico Boni.

He used an array of fast plasma probes to characterize the oscillations in the magnetic nozzle of ONERA’s electron-cyclotron resonance thruster for three months. This experimental test campaign will provide valuable data to assess the existence of oscillations and instabilities in these devices, and their role in enhancing the cross-field plasma transport, a mechanism still little known in magnetic nozzles, but which drives plasma losses and plasma detachment. The results of this internship will be presented in a collaborative paper at the upcoming IEPC 2024 conference in Toulouse in June.