High power microwave sources and applications

Abstract

There has been considerable interest recently in high power microwave (HPM) sources for nonlethal directed energy weaponry applications. Many of these sources that are being developed are derivatives of sources that are well known to the vacuum electronics community. Others are unique to the HPM community and have no analog in traditional microwave sources. For electronic attack (referred to in the media as the "e-bomb"), HPM sources are being developed that provide peak powers that exceed 1 GW at frequencies on the order of 1 GHz in short pulses, typically on the order of 100 ns. The technology that is used to drive such sources has its roots in pulsed power, and a comprehensive understanding of their behavior requires the use of tools that have been developed in the plasma physics community. The ever-increasing reliance on the use of microprocessors that have increasing density of circuits packaged on a chip makes such systems increasingly vulnerable to HPM. This paper provides an overview of HPM sources, their applications, and will highlight areas of intense, ongoing research activity.