Detecting excess ionizing radiation by electromagnetic breakdown of air

Journal Article · Wed Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3484044· OSTI ID:21476456

Granatstein, Victor L; Nusinovich, Gregory S ^[1]

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1. Center for Applied Electromagnetics, Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)

A scheme is proposed for detecting a concealed source of ionizing radiation by observing the occurrence of breakdown in atmospheric air by an electromagnetic wave whose electric field surpasses the breakdown field in a limited volume. The volume is chosen to be smaller than the reciprocal of the naturally occurring concentration of free electrons. The pulse duration of the electromagnetic wave must exceed the avalanche breakdown time (10-200 ns) and could profitably be as long as the statistical lag time in ambient air (typically, microseconds). Candidate pulsed electromagnetic sources over a wavelength range, 3 mm>{lambda}>10.6 {mu}m, are evaluated. Suitable candidate sources are found to be a 670 GHz gyrotron oscillator with 200 kW, 10 {mu}s output pulses and a Transversely Excited Atmospheric-Pressure (TEA) CO{sub 2} laser with 30 MW, 100 ns output pulses. A system based on 670 GHz gyrotron would have superior sensitivity. A system based on the TEA CO{sub 2} laser could have a longer range >100 m.

• OSTI ID: 21476456
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 108, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3484044; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BREAKDOWN
CARBON DIOXIDE LASERS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRONS
GHZ RANGE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS
OSCILLATORS
PLASMA
PULSES
RADIATION DETECTION
AMPLIFIERS
DETECTION
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUIPMENT
FERMIONS
FLUIDS
FREQUENCY RANGE
GAS LASERS
GASES
LASERS
LEPTONS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
RADIATIONS