High Power Electromagnetic Sources from X-Band to Ka-Band
Abstract
The University of New Mexico (UNM) group has been a leader in advancing intense beam-driven high power microwave (HPM) sources through analytical theory, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, and experiments. Over the past three years under ONR sponsorship we have advanced the relativistic magnetron (RM), both the traditional RM with radial extraction as well as the magnetron with diffraction output (MDO). Through a collaboration with NSWC-DD and researchers at The Technion we have successfully demonstrated the operation of the MDO with a split cathode using the new NSWC pulser with cryomagnet. We have advanced the understanding of the MILO, proposing a new design. A new pulser is being assembled to begin MILO experiments. We have also advanced the development of cathodes through a collaboration with several organizations. In this proposal we are shifting our focus to develop pulsed power-driven sources of HPM radiation from X-Ka band (8-40 GHz) in simulation and experiment. The UNM group has a long history of developing X-band backward wave oscillators (BWO) with output powers nearing 1 GW. That was during the decade of the 1990s when pulse shortening was a leading driver of HPM research in the U.S. The UNM group then shifted its research to focus largely on L- and S-band sources in the period 2000-present, driven by the DOD’s interest in using HPM for electronic attack, although through a DARPA INVEST grant, the UNM group has demonstrated a high power BWO in E-band (78 GHz) during 2016-2021. Today, the landscape is once again changing and interest in dominating the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) is a key driver. As we move forward, it seems that the Directed Energy Microwave (DEM) community and the Electronic Warfare (EW) community in the U.S. are converging to follow the new DOD Strategy. UNM seeks to contribute to this convergence by identifying potential HPM sources that can meet the needs of the DOD in the X-Ka band with as much power as possible
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 06, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142312072
Entities
People
- Edl Schamiloglu
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of New Mexico