Statistical Computation for Multipactors in Arbitrary Microwave Devices

Multipactors are avalanches of secondary electrons occurred in high-power vacuum microwave devices. Accurate prediction of their occurrences is challenging, especially for devices with complex geometric cavities under complex excitations. In this article, a generalized statistical theory is derived for predicting multipactors occurred in arbitrary metallic cavities under arbitrary excitations. Its computation burden is independent on the number of electrons, enabling investigations for dynamic evolutions of multipactors even in the presence of huge amount of avalanching electrons. Exampled with coaxial, rectangular, and ridged rectangular waveguides and excited with sinusoidal, multicarrier, and wideband radar signals, dynamic electron populations and breakdown levels were computed. While the obtained results agree well with previously reported experiments and particle-in-cell simulations, these results also explain three special phenomena occurred during multipactors, verifying the validity and accuracy of the proposed solution.

Automated summary

In this article, a generalized statistical theory is derived to predict the occurrence of multipactors in high-power vacuum microwave devices. The theory is capable of predicting multipactor occurrences in devices with complex geometric cavities and arbitrary excitations. The results obtained from the theory were consistent with previously reported experiments and simulations and explained three special phenomena that occur during multipactors, validating the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed solution.