Multipaction Resistant RF Components for Satellites Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Topic No.: N102-190 Topic Title: Multipaction Resistant RF Components for Satellites Proposal No.: N102-190-0989 Firm: Nokomis, Inc 310 5th St. Charleroi, Pennsylvania 15022 Contact: Patrick Fisher Phone: (724) 483-3946 Web Site: www.nokomisinc.com Abstract: Satellite RF components suffer from an additional design limitation that does not concern their terrestrial counterparts: multipaction, an electron avalanche effect that can reduce performance or permanently damage devices under certain conditions. To avoid the onset of this effect, the traditional options are increasing the component size (more specifically, gap widths) or reducing operating power. Given the cost per weight to deploy satellite systems, both of these options result in exponential increases in the price per watt of transmission. Nokomis proposes to develop technology for multipactor-resistant components, allowing for increased power handling and performance with improved reliability. The key is that the multipactor mitigation technology utilized will allow for this component performance improvement in a smaller form factor device, enabling the realization of industry-wide performance gains. Benefits: Satellite RF components are important for a number of applications, military and commercial. These include communications, television, radio, GPS, and so forth, each of which should see performance enhancement given the integration of a viable multipactor mitigation technology. The multipactor effect is also problematic in some terrestrial applications, and there is reason to believe some of the same multipactor mitigation techniques should apply to both. Particle accelerators systems, for example, often operate at very high energy levels and multipactor mitigation procedures have become engrained in the field. The particle accelerator industry includes a wide range of medical, research, and security applications that would benefit from improved window performance and reliability. Return