Studies of the Propagation of Short Burst, High Power Microwave Radiation through Neutral and Ionized Media

Abstract

Experiments were completed on the propagation of very high power (500 kw/cmsq), short burst (3-30 ms) microwaves through a neutral media. Results indicate that breakdown field strengths are about a factor of two higher when the test cell is shielded from x rays generated by the microwave source. Standard theoretical models were shown to give very accurate predictions of actual observations for all cases except when the RF frequency was near the plasma frequency. Keywords: Earth atmosphere, Microwave transmission, Burst transmission, Breakdown electron threshold, Electromagnetic shielding, Microwave pulses, Large orbit gyrotrons, Plasmas physics, Air.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA208664

Entities

People

  • Charles D. Striffler
  • William W. Destler

Organizations

  • University of Maryland

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Simulations
  • Electric Fields
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electromagnetic Shielding
  • Electron Beams
  • Electrons
  • Electrostatic Fields
  • Free Electrons
  • Frequency
  • Geometry
  • High Power Microwaves
  • Ionization
  • Wave Propagation
  • Waveforms
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electronics Engineering
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster