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Title: Phenomenology of microwave coupling. Part I

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6210654

Recent advances in the development of high power microwave sources have increased the potential for future deployment of microwave weapons. A key ingredient in being able to predict the vulnerability of military systems to such threats involves understanding the phenomenology of how electromagnetic energy couples into cavity-like objects, or the so-called back-door coupling. A similar but much longer standing problem is that of nuclear electromagnetic pulses (EMP) in which the frequencies extend up to several hundreds of MHz. However, compared to EMP coupling, microwave coupling (from 1 GHz to above 40 GHz) is distinctively different because the wavelength is comparable to the size of the ports of entry (apertures, seams, cracks, protruding connectors, etc.). These ports of entry and the interior configuration of a vulnerable system are no longer below cutoff, and can permit significant penetration of the microwave energy into susceptible electronic systems. In fact, these coupling paths can be highly resonant at certain microwave frequencies, making the shielding against microwave threats difficult. This report summarizes the initial efforts at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to study the phenomenology of back door coupling at the low microwave frequencies (up to 2.5 GHz). These studies were limited to 2.5 GHz because the limitations of the Electromagnetic Transient Range Facility.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
6210654
Report Number(s):
UCID-20215; ON: DE85003097
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English