Coaxial waveguide filters for multipactor characterization of dielectrics used in space applications

The objective of this work is to report on the design, manufacture and test of a new family of waveguide components for the characterization of the high-power Radio Frequency behavior of dielectric materials. Specially designed low-pass coaxial filter structures, with wide bandwidth filtering responses, have been optimized to include dielectric samples in high electric field regions. Six different devices have been specifically designed for Teflon, Rexolite, Rohacell, Alumina, ULTEM 1000 and Rogers RO5870 dielectric samples. The present work has been carried out in the context of a new European Space Agency (ESA) project to study the multipactor behavior of dielectric materials widely used in space applications.