Secondary Electron Yield Measurements on Materials of Interest to Vacuum Electron Communication Devices

Abstract

Vacuum electron devices (VEDs) can experience degraded performance, including complete failure, due to multipactor breakdown (MPB). This effect is tied to the production and acceleration of secondary electrons due to electron impact and coupling to the RF fields. In order to better understand the initiation of MPB with materials of interest, researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) are carrying out a study of the secondary electron yield (SEY) contribution from various materials used in high power VEDs. This work describes SEY data from electron bombardment in the low energy regime, from 10 eV to 1 keV, on Cu as a baseline material, - stainless steel, aluminum 6061 (Al) and Invar (Fe64/Ni36). SEY data for Cu as a function of incident beam angle is also presented. In addition, different surface cleaning treatment protocols employed in this study will be described.