Characteristics of electron evolution during initial low-pressure discharge stage upon microwave circuits

Abstract

High-power microwave-induced low-pressure discharges seriously threaten the reliability of space payload systems. Under extremely low-pressure conditions, the evolution of ionized and secondary electrons at the initial stage of discharge is crucial to figure out the discharge process. Therefore, this paper investigates the development of multiple electrons in the discharge process under a highly low-pressure environment using numerical simulation. A three-dimensional simulation model based on the Monte Carlo algorithm is established by considering various electron-gas collisions and secondary electron emissions from different material surfaces. The evolution characteristics of various electrons' populations, energy, and distribution patterns during the discharge process are analyzed. In addition, the influence of the critical conditions at different air pressures on the electron evolution during the discharge process and the intrinsic causes are also investigated. This study is significant in revealing the transition characteristics between multipactor and low-pressure discharge and exploring their inherent mechanisms.

Microwave Corona Breakdown Suppression of Microstrip Coupled-Line Filter Using Lacquer Coating

“…Due to the increasing use of solid-state microwave components, corona breakdown of microstrip circuits is becoming interested by space community. Recently, studies on corona effect of microstrip circuits, including microstripto-coaxial transition, are reported which mainly focus on interpretation and modeling/simulation of corona effect [7][8][9], [10]. Like another power handling problem, multipactor, one of the most important aspects of corona research is how to suppress corona effect.…”

Gas Desorption and Secondary Electron Emission from Graphene Coated Copper Due to E-Beam Stimulation

“…When there is a low-pressure environment in the 2 of 15 cavity (usually 10 −3 -10 Torr), the resonantly moving electrons will collide with the gas molecules by ionization, excite more electrons, and undergo the resonance multiplication process [7,11]. In this process, some electrons usually collide with the material interface to excite secondary electrons and the attached gas, thus greatly facilitating the discharge process [12]. In fact, even if the gas molecules in the cavity are extremely low (pressure below 10 −5 Torr), the cascade multiplication process induced by secondary electron emission alone can lead to multipactor phenomena under the action of high-power microwave fields [13,14].…”

“…However, in addition to the contribution of secondary electron emission, the microwave resonance-induced discharge is also closely related to the ionization excitation of electrons-gas collision [38]. When the number of electrons increases dramatically, ESD becomes the main source of gas, which is a critical indicator of the transformation of the multipactor into a low-pressure discharge process [12,33]. Then, the possibility of using graphene coating to suppress both SEE and ESD becomes crucial.…”