Modeling RF Window Breakdown: From Vacuum Multipactor to Volumetric Ionization Discharge

Plasma breakdown at dielectric windows the output of high power microwave systems has become an important challenge with the advent of GW power level sources. In this work, we report a number of recent advances which have significantly improved understanding of the physics of vacuum multipactors and gaseous discharges driven by microwaves, and in the parameter space and physics associated with the transition from one regime to the other