Study on microwave emission mechanisms on the basis of hypervelocity impact experiments on various target plates

Abstract

It was formerly confirmed by experiment that hypervelocity impacts on aluminum plates cause microwave emission. In this study, we have carried out experiments in order to clarify the mechanism of the emission. The microwave is detected by heterodyne detection scheme at 22 and 2 GHz with an intermediate frequency bandwidth of 500 and 120 MHz, respectively. A nylon projectile is accelerated using a light-gas gun to impact a target. First, aluminum plates with ten different thicknesses ranging from 1 to 40 mm were used as a target, and microwave signals were detected. The experimental results are statistically analyzed assuming a Gaussian distribution of the emitted power. The standard deviation of pulse voltage is calculated to show the existence of two kinds of signals: sharp pulse and thermal noise. It is shown that the emitted energy and the dispersion have a relation with the extent of the target destruction. Next, nylon projectiles are impacted on different metals such as aluminum, iron, and copper. These results suggest that microcracks are essential to microwave emission. Finally, in order to clarify the mechanism of charging and discharging across the microcracks, the experimental results are compared with this model for the following factors: (1) the thermally excited electrons and the emitted power, and (2) the bond dissociation energy of target material and emitted power. The analytical results suggest that electrons are excited thermally and by transition from a crystalline state to an atomic state.