Multipactor electron simulation tool (MEST)

The European Space Agency (ESA) is presently running a research contract with the Universidad Autonoma of Madrid (UAM, Spain) with the aim of mitigating the incidence of multipactor effects on board spacecrafts. One of the outcomes of this study is a software simulator to detect the occurrence of multipactor discharge between parallel plates. The tool uses a micro-level explicit representation of the electrons (i.e. each electron in the system is modelled separately), and includes a detailed model of secondary emission yield (SEY) in the plates. The system generates V-f.d maps of the multipactor discharge detected in the simulations. Materials are described either using the usual parameter set (E₁, E₂ and δ_max), or a more detailed model, where the contributions due to true secondary, backscattered or elastically reflected electrons are given their own sets of parameters, together with additional parameters for the angle dependence. The simulator has been validated using experimental data gathered at ESA and the UAM. The understanding of the physics involved in this kind of phenomena is an important step in the research towards its suppression. As a first result, several materials are being investigated as potential candidates for the mitigation of multipactor effects in RF transmission lines on board satellite payloads.