Study on Multipactor Breakdown in Coaxial to Microstrip Transitions

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to study multipactor breakdown in coaxial to microstrip transitions. This kind of transitions generally exhibit a gap just below the central pin of the coaxial connector. This gap can create a region where the electric fields are relatively strong so that an electron path may be created that could potentially lead to a multipactor breakdown. In this paper, we study the multipactor modes which may be induced as a function of structural parameters, such as the substrate thickness and the gap length. In particular, it is found that two kinds of electron trajectory can be created leading to critical power levels that are even lower than those obtained with the parallel-plate model, generally used as a conservative model. In this context, we demonstrate that multipactor breakdown can happen for input power levels lower than 500 W. This, in turn, may become a critical issue for the use of classic coaxial to microstrip transitions in new high power satellites whenever payloads are manufactured using planar technology.Index Terms-coaxial to microstrip transition, high power applications, multipactor, power breakdown threshold.

Multimode Equivalent Networks for Shielded Microwave Circuits With Thick Metallizations

“…In Fig. 2(a), we show two external ports to model the coaxial I/O connectors used to excite real-microwave components [13], [14]. However, the treatment of internal ports, which can be used to connect the metallization to external lumped-element components, is identical.…”

“…However, planar microwave circuits are today very popular for a large number of applications. In this context, therefore, research was recently carried out to extend the MEN formulation to the analysis of multilayer boxed planar devices [11], [12] and to include also lateral excitation ports that could model the excitation of planar circuits through real-coaxial connectors [13], [14]. However, the formulation presented in [11], [12] is restricted to zero-thickness metallic patches with a rectangular shape.…”

Advanced Techniques for Multipactor Testing

“…The multipactor analysis and testing of devices with complex geometries has become a standard nowadays [31,11,32,33,34,35,36]. By increasing the understanding of the actual RF multipactor breakdown behavior within special geometries, such as the ones producing fringing fields [37,38,31], the ability to produce accurate simulations has reached a level at which simulation matches testing even in those non-canonical scenarios.…”

Investigación en técnicas numéricas basadas en ecuación integral para el análisis y diseño de dispositivos de microondas para comunicaciones espaciales

“…In previous chapters, we extended the Multimode Equivalent Network formulation to the analysis of multilayer boxed planar devices, that include lateral excitation ports that could model the excitation of planar circuits through real coaxial connectors Edwards and Steer (2013); Marini et al (2018). The electric MEN formulation described in Chapter III allows to analyze multilayer planar components that are based on arbitrary rectangular zero-thickness elements.…”