Voltage breakdown in RF components

[Gakusei]

Does anybody have any papers or advise on calculating or simulating voltage breakdown in RF components?

In the case of filters this is highly dependante on the shapes of the resonant and coupling parts and the properties of the dielectrics used. I currently use CST to simulate filters, but have not been able to find a method to calculate the maximum power rating of my designs. I am still using an old rule of thumb method which I'm sure underates the filters by quite a wide margin.

 

[plasma]

Hi Gakusei
In CST
I think that you can get it from 2D E-Field on the screen. one of the
Outputs is the highest electric field in the structure in volt/meter
And its give you also the point were it's append.
so now that you know the value of the field in volt/meter
you can compare it now to 30kvolt/cm (that is the air breakdown)
use the right units. (3kvolt/mm : 3Mvolt/meter)
from this info you will know if you close or far away from breakdown.

Because it normalized to "1" so to get the value in watt just multiplay it
by the input power. not "^"

rgz PLAS.

 

[flatulent]

One thing to keep in mind is the real world defects of the manufacturing processes. They can leave burs and sharp edges which drastically increase the electric field level. You should have these items tumbled in an abrasive powder or acid etched to remove these small radii effects.

Generally, the insertion loss effects of the circuit Q of the cavities and resonators will them to be large enough that breakdown will not occur.