Radiation generation by an ionization front in a gas-filled capacitor array
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
A new radiation source, in which the static electric field of an alternatively biased capacitor array is directly converted into coherent radiation by a laser produced ionization front (i.e., a moving vacuum/plasma boundary), is investigated experimentally. The frequency of the radiation is approximately given by {omega}{sub p}{sup 2}/2k{sub o}c, where k{sub o} = {pi}/d is the wavenumber defined by the distance d between the capacitors. Its electric field is approximately equal to that of the capacitor field E{sub o}. The device can potentially produce coherent pulses of high power (MW), tunable radiation in different frequency regimes (microwave, Thz, {hor_ellipsis}). In a proof-of-principle experiment, short (<5 ns) microwave pulses with tunable frequency scaling linearly with the plasma density were generated between 6 and 21 Ghz. These results, as well as results obtained with other structures: Ka-band waveguide and coaxial line in the microwave range, and a {micro}-structure in the 10 {micro}m range, will be presented.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-92ER40745
- OSTI ID:
- 321050
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970559--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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