Radiation from SiC PCSS driven gyromagnetic nonlinear transmission line high power microwave source

An all solid-state high power microwave (HPM) source is constructed using a photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) based HV pulse generator to drive a sulfur hexaflouride (SF₆) insulated coaxial ferrimagnetic nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) which feeds a TEM horn antenna. The PCSS was fabricated from high purity semi-insulating (HPSI) 4H-SiC and is illuminated with 2 mJ from a frequency tripled Nd:YAG laser at 355 nm with a 7 ns FWHM. Fixed fiber optic delay lines are utilized to generate a burst of four optical pulses from a single solid-state laser source for rep-rate operation. The input to the NLTL is an adjustable pulse from 3 kV to 6 kV with sub-ns rise time and the resulting output of the NLTL is radiation in the L-band to S-band regime with RF power from 100-200 kW depending on charge voltage. A Rexolite® insulated zipper transition, in which the inner conductor of the coax is gradually exposed, is used at the output of the NLTL to transition from a coaxial structure to parallel plate structure in order to feed a free space TEM horn. The zipper transition and feed section of the TEM horn are potted using Sylgard® 184 silicone elastomer to prevent breakdown at the antenna feed and maintain a homogenous dielectric constant for the transition region. Radiated waveforms are presented for several charge voltages and bias conditions.