Breakdown in air-filled microwave waveguides during pulsed operation

Abstract

A theoretical investigation is made of the threshold condition for breakdown in air-filled high power microwave waveguides during pulsed operation. The analysis concentrates on a parameter range characterized by microwave frequencies in the GHz range and pressures larger than 100 Torr. In particular, explicit analytical expressions are obtained for the dependence of breakdown field on pulse length and pulse repetition frequency.