Three-dimensional simulation method of multipactor in microwave components for high-power space application

Based on the particle-in-cell technology and the secondary electron emission theory, a three-dimensional simulation method for multipactor is presented in this paper. By combining the finite difference time domain method and the panicle tracing method, such an algorithm is self-consistent and accurate since the interaction between electromagnetic fields and particles is properly modeled. In the time domain aspect, the generation of multipactor can be easily visualized, which makes it possible to gain a deeper insight into the physical mechanism of this effect. In addition to the classic secondary electron emission model, the measured practical secondary electron yield is used, which increases the accuracy of the algorithm. In order to validate the method, the impedance transformer and ridge waveguide filter are studied. By analyzing the evolution of the secondaries obtained by our method, multipactor thresholds of these components are estimated, which show good agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, the most sensitive positions where multipactor occurs are determined from the phase focusing phenomenon, which is very meaningful for multipactor analysis and design.