PIC-MCC simulation for HPM multipactor discharge on dielectric surface in vacuum

In order to understand the physical mechanism of multipactor discharge on dielectric window surface under high power microwave (HPM) excitation in vacuum, an electron movement simulation model based on the particle-in-cell (PIC) Monte Carlo (MC) is built in this paper. The influences of microwave electromagnetic field and electrostatic field from dielectric surface charging are simultaneously considered in this model. During the simulation, the emission velocity and angle distribution of secondary electrons from the dielectric surface are taken into account. The movement trajectories of electron clusters under complex field excitation are obtained. The influences of emergence angle and microwave electromagnetic parameters on the electron movement are analyzed. It is found that the emergence angle of electrons from the surface has significant effect on its movement, and both the impact energy and return time of electrons oscillate periodically with the phase of microwave field. The number of secondary electrons and induced electrostatic field from multipactoring are also investigated. The results reveal that both values oscillate periodically at twice the microwave frequency, which is due to the electron impact energy oscillating with microwave period. A schematic diagram is proposed to explain the periodical oscillation phenomena.