Generating microwave pulses with plasma

摘要

Summary form only given. The control of electromagnetic radiation with plasmas is studied in a microwave resonant cavity fabricated using additive manufacturing and copper electroplating. The resonant cavity is created between two conducting posts in a rectangular waveguide at 12.3 GHz and scattering parameters of electromagnetic radiation are measured using a vector network analyzer. Plasma is introduced in the resonator in order to change the refractive index; control of the discharge voltage varies the frequency response. The plasma is also pulsed to create a time varying electron density and resonance frequency. In this way microwave pulses can be formed from a continuous microwave input, and the output pulse's width and delay can be controlled by the input microwave frequency.