RF breakdown analysis according to international standards

Summary form only given. Multipactor is a high power phenomenon that may appear in RF components operating in vacuum conditions. Multipactor is an electronic discharge, produced when free electrons in the component enter in resonance with the RF fields. It is an undesirable effect, since it degrades the signal and may ultimately lead to a permanent damage of the component.Multipactor is a key issue for spatial applications, as well as for particle accelerators. Concretely, the space industry has devoted a considerably effort to specify design and test standards for producing multipactor free components. Currently, there are two main standards. The European ECSS Multipactor standard1, published by the ESA-ESTEC, and the American standard/handbook2, produced by The Aerospace Corporation. The ECSS Multipactor standard was the first multipactor standard. It covers multipactor design and test procedures as well as applicable margins depending on the type of component, development phase (design, qualification, acceptance) and signal (single-carrier or multi-carrier). Currently, this standard is being updated. The new version will incorporate the last studies, numerical techniques and experimental results. The American standard2 is more recent. It is similar in essence to the European one, but with different criteria and margins. This work presents the multipactor design and test process under the view of the two standards, highlighting similarities and differences. Future trends in multipactor design and test will also be discussed.