Investigation on Multipactor in Double-Sided Dielectric-Loaded Microwave Components

This article presents a study of the multipactor effect in a double-sided dielectric-loaded parallel-plate waveguide. To this end, a 1-D electrostatic particle-in-cell model is established, which considers the radio frequency electric fields, space charge fields, and surface charge fields generated by the accumulated charge on the dielectric surface. The dynamic evolution of multipactor breakdown for different operating voltages and dielectric materials with different secondary electron yield (SEY) properties is investigated by numerical calculation. The results obtained show that multipactor does occur self-extinguishing phenomenon due to the presence of the surface charge fields under certain circumstances in the double-sided dielectric-loaded parallel-plate waveguide. Moreover, a comparative study of multipactor between metal, single-sided, and double-sided dielectric-loaded parallel-plate waveguides is carried out. The simulation results show that the self-extinguishing time of the multipactor in the double-sided dielectric-loaded model is less than that in the single-sided dielectric-loaded model. Finally, a multipactor susceptibility diagram for the SEY curve of different bottom dielectric materials in the parallel-plate waveguide is constructed. The results show that the single-sided dielectric-loaded microwave components are more beneficial to suppress the multipactor effect. The results reported in this study can be used to guide the design of space high-power microwave components.