Experimental studies on dielectric surface breakdown at vacuum conditions under high-power microwave excitation

Abstract

The HPM dielectric surface breakdown experiments under vacuum are conducted in a pillbox. For minimizing the effects of the dielectric/metal/vacuum triple point, a concave cylindrical dielectric is used. It is proved the triple point is "removed" from the breakdown location in experiments. It was confirmed by experiment that periodic grooves perpendicular to the major electric field can increase transmitted power, when compared with smooth dielectric geometries.