High-power microwave pulse compressors with a variable geometry of accumulative resonant cavity

摘要

We propose a new approach to designing the geometry of large accumulative systems of compact Microwave Pulse Compressors (MPC's) used to generate ~10-ns rectangular pulses in the S- and X-bands. A resonant system having a variable geometry replaces the traditional cylindrical, spherical, or prism-shaped storage cavity. Our design uses standard structural elements made from single-mode or moderately multimode waveguide sections with ends terminated by waveguide tees or their analogs. One arm of each T-junction connects to a section of the resonant cavity, the second arm is close-circuited, and the third arm connects to an adjacent linear section. The plasma switch, used to Q-spoil the cavity, mounts in the side arm of another tee. Thus, the accumulative system is formed using compact planar and three-dimensional structures (or combinations thereof) by alignment of standard elements through the arms of tees or their analogs. The proposed approach leads to develop of very compact systems. Integration of an MPC into an existing RF generator is also straightforward without significantly expanding its footprint. We present schemes for several types of MPC's with variable geometry of the accumulative system. Our work shows that a specific architecture of the accumulative system, accounting for the relevant distribution of energy and method for pulse extraction, is useful in building MPC's with discretely controlled output pulse parameters. We also show that the variable geometry of the accumulative system makes it possible to design compact, cascade compression systems with power multiplication of the traveling wave in the resonant cavity. This paper also demonstrates the first results from an experimental study of MPC's with a planar accumulative system.