A New Multipactor Effect Model for Dielectric-Loaded Rectangular Waveguides

Multipactor is an electron discharge that may appear in particle accelerators and microwave devices such as filters, multiplexers, and RF satellite payloads in satellite on-board equipment under vacuum conditions. When some resonance conditions are satisfied, secondary electrons get synchronized with the RF fields, and the electron population inside the device grows exponentially leading to a multipactor discharge. This multipactor discharge has some negative effects that degrade the device performance: increase of signal noise and reflected power, heating of the device walls, outgassing, detuning of resonant cavities, and even the partial or total destruction of the component. The main aim of this investigation is to show a new model for the analysis of multipactor effect in partially dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguides. For this purpose, a CAD software has been developed which allows the simulation and design of these structures out of the operation points in which this undesired multipactor effect occurs, including the main factors that drive it.