Novel Coating for Suppression of Multipactor in High Power Microwave Devices

Multipactor is an incessant problem that plagues numerous commercial and military systems, including satellites and particle accelerator components such as klystrons, high-power radio frequency windows, and free electron lasers. Current solutions, including traditional coatings such as titanium nitride, or the use of magnetic systems to suppress secondary electron emission, are insufficient to support device operations at high frequencies (1 – 40GHz) and high operating powers. Under Phase I Nokomis demonstrated a unique thin film material with an extremely low secondary electron coefficient and then confirmed through experiment that this nanocoating does not affect the performance of radio frequency devices. Under Phase II, the deposition process was matured to coat complex geometries, the chemistry of the coatings refined for huge performance gains, and will culminate in the demonstration of multipactor suppression on a coax structure at high power and high frequency. Under this Phase IIa effort, Nokomis will work closely with industry and government stakeholders determine service requirements for a coating solution and refine the deposition process to produce nanocoatings that meet these service requirements while maintaining extremely low secondary electron emission. Nokomis will then work directly with industry and government experts to conclusively demonstrate the efficacy of the coating on high-power microwave devices in representative environments. Finally, the effort will conclude with the development of a web-based COMSOL application designed to provide industry with a means for calculating the anticipated performance gains for a coated component before and after technology adoption. In succeeding, Nokomis will enable high power microwave device manufacturers to achieve much higher power levels and higher frequencies, drastically reducing the size and weight of these devices and enabling new devices that were previously size weight and power limited. The technology will enable large advances in communication, fundamental research, manufacturing, radar, medical diagnostic and radiotherapy equipment.