Sensors for Measurement of Intense Electromagnetic Pulses

Abstract

Fast, large-amplitude pulses are encountered in the nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP), lightning, various pulse-power machinery, and charged particle beams. In the context of the EMP program various accurate, broad band sensors have been developed. The principal types of these sensors have been designed to measure electric and magnetic fields, current densities, currents, and voltages. Often it is the time-derivative waveforms that are measured for good accuracy. These sensors are now being applied to the measurement of the fast-transient electromagnetic properties of lightning. The general design concepts and techniques for such sensors are also applicable in various pulse power machines, where one may wish to measure various impulsive currents and voltages. A more difficult problem occurs when there are pulsed particles beams (y ray, X ray, neutron, electron, etc.) present. However, some of the important EMP sensor designs were for nuclear-source- region environments, making the concepts generally applicable for such particle-beam environments. Besides the actual sensors which convert the desired electromagnetic field parameters to voltage and current at a connector (terminal), one must also consider the topology of any conductors (such as cables) attached to the sensor, or of which the sensor forms a part (such as a shield), in designing experiments. In some cases symmetry is also an important consideration.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA638104

Entities

People

  • C. E. Baum

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Charged Particles
  • Current Density
  • Electric Fields
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Electromagnetic Pulses
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Equivalent Circuits
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Bands
  • Instrumentation
  • Magnetic Detectors
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Measurement
  • Nuclear Radiation
  • Particle Beams
  • Radiation
  • Topology

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems