On The Path To A Terawatt: High Power Microwave Experiments At Aurora'

Abstract

The Aurora electron-beam generator driving a reflex diode has produced the largest single microwave pulse measured in the laboratory to date (early 1988). In this experiment up to 374 J per pulse is extracted from the device into two radial waveguides. The maximum peak power is 22 GW obtained in a single narrow spike; the peak average power is 9 GW over 20 ns. The power flux through the 0.061-m² area of the two WR975 waveguides is 145 GW/m2, four times the flux once thought to be present in a previous experiment'. In many aspects the experimental results agree with simulation predictions. This paper discusses the recent measurements and indicates directions for further developments with the potential for terawatt peak RF power pulses.