Influence of secondary emission yield on the saturation properties of multipactor discharges between two parallel metal plates

A detailed numerical simulation analysis is made of the saturation stage of multipactor discharges between two infinite parallel metal plates in vacuum exposed to a rf voltage. The main physical effect causing saturation of the multipactor discharge is increased space charge, as the electron density becomes large. It is found that the properties of the saturation stage depend crucially on the value of the secondary emission yield of the metal surfaces. Below a certain threshold value, the discharge has a two-sided character, but at this threshold the discharge makes an abrupt transition into two decoupled single-sided multipactor discharges containing significantly increased electron densities. The result of the numerical simulations gives a good picture of the saturation properties of the multipactor discharge and is also supplemented by an approximate analytical investigation that highlights and explains the characteristic properties of the observed saturation behavior.