Abstract:

The overall aim of this project is to address the power handling capabilities of resonant passive RF components (with emphasis on RF filters) without compromising electrical performance, cost, or volume & mass budget. Power handling in low pressure conditions is commony limited by the multipactor effect, a resonant interaction between the high-power RF field and an electron cloud that can lead to an electron avalanche effect. Multipactor is presently emerging as a key technological bottleneck in the development of high power RF payloads, posing severe delays, costs, risks and technical limitations to integrators. The core technological proposition we bring to fore is to fill the void in RF-components liable to power handling with synthetic aerogel networks to prevent the propagation and formation of an electron cloud and the onset of multipactor. While aerogels have not been considered in the context of spaceborne RF electronics, there is substantial evidence that they bring major opportunities for disruptive improvements as electromagnetic insulators due to a combination of high breakdown voltage and low loss tangent & dielectric permittivity. In the envisaged solution, the power handling capability shall only be limited by the breakdown power of the aerogel networks, which is known to lie well above the most stringent specifications.