Development of antennas and sources for high power microwave applications -

Abstract

High Power Microwave (HPM) technology has lately been the great interest of many researchers in the area. An HPM system comprises a high power generator and a high power capable antenna. The generator has to produce the needed high voltage pulse. This pulse in turn has to be converted to a RF signal and coupled to an RF antenna part required to radiate the signal to its intended destination. This technology has found its interest in various applications ranging from commercial to military applications, such as radar and communication systems, law enforcement, materials processing, and environmental protection. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the major parts of a High Power Microwave system, and to highlight the design and development of high power capable antennas for such applications. The generator part has to develop the needed high voltage pulse which will be converted later on to RF signal to be fed to the proper high power capable antenna. The latter has to be designed in a certain way to radiate the generated wave in a pencil shape pattern, with high gain and low sidelobe levels. The thesis is organized as follows: The idea behind the use of HPM and its widely known applications is introduced in Chapter 1. This chapter begins with a brief introduction on the high power microwave sources and states the main objectives of the thesis. The major components of a high power microwave system are the identified and described in Chapter 2, before delving into the core of the thesis aiming at designing and implementing high power capable antennas in the second part of the thesis. The first type of antennas studied and improved is the Vlasov antenna in Chapter 3, for which an improved shape with curved cuts for High Power Microwaves applications is proposed, leading to higher gain, decreased half power beamwidth, and decreased sidelobe level. In addition, two optimized reflectors, one with enhanced position, and the second with additional shape enhancement having curved edges, are also proposed, with the ab