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Surface Films to Suppress Field Emission in High-Power Microwave Components

Award Information
Agency: Department of Energy
Branch: N/A
Contract: DE-FG02-04ER86223
Agency Tracking Number: 75119T04-I
Amount: $100,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: 7
Solicitation Number: DOE/SC-0075
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2004
Award Year: 2004
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
199 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Jay Hirshfield
 Dr.
 (203) 458-1144
 jay@omega-p.com
Business Contact
 George Trahan
Title: Dr.
Phone: (203) 458-1144
Email: trahan@omega-p.com
Research Institution
 University of California, San Diego
 Pamela J Alexander
 
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States

 (858) 534-0240
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

75119-The achievement of high microwave fields in next-generation high-energy particle accelerators will require, among other things, that field emission and breakdown be held to within strict upper limits. One means to achieve this goal is to devise rugged thin-film coatings for vulnerable copper surfaces, providing a higher work function than copper alone. This project will evaluate a variety of candidate thin-film coating materials for inhibiting field emission in high-power microwave components and develop recipes for applying these coatings to copper test blanks. Phase I will develop a variety of thin-film materials, including the possible use of intermediate adhesion layers and outer anti-oxidizing layers, for application to copper test blanks. An X-band test cell will be designed to achieve a microwave electric field strength on the coated test blanks that is more than double the field strength on other surfaces in the test cell. A non-high-vacuum model of the test cell will be built and cold-tested. Ultimately, comparisons will be made between the thresholds for microwave breakdown (as well as the rates of breakdown above threshold) in coated and uncoated test blanks; the difference in performance of the various coating materials also will be examined. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Thin-film coatings on high-power microwave components should extend the parameter range over which the components can be used, especially in high-power installations at accelerators. Other applications requiring high-power microwaves include radar and high-power microwave industrial processing.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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