An Electromagnetic-Plasma Fluid Model Simulation of Waveguide Plasma Limiter Filled With Different Easily Ionized Inert Gas

Abstract

To protect electronic systems against high-power microwave (HPM), a plasma waveguide limiter is presented. In response to the above phenomenon, a self-consistent 3-D multiphysics electromagnetic-plasma fluid model coupling full-wave Maxwell’s equations with plasma fluid equations is established to describe the operating mechanism of a 3-D simplified sandwich structure plasma limiter filled with four easily ionized inert gases. The plasma limiter system is analyzed with the spectral-element time-domain (SETD) method. The choice of filling easily ionizable inert gas, influence of the number of layers, and pressure on the plasma limiter are discussed. Numerical results demonstrate that the gas with low critical breakdown field strength is more suitable for protecting HPMs. In the case of 20 torr, the order of microwave breakdown is xenon, argon, neon, and helium, and the two-layer plasma limiter (plasma–slab–plasma) has better protective characteristics than a one-layer plasma limiter (slab–plasma–slab) with the same length of gas chamber. Our research can provide theoretical guidance for designers and give the complete physical physics process.