RFI_HPEM_Source_Research__Q A__2.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

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High-Powered Electromagnetics (HPEM) Source Research Questions and Answers #2

Q1: Referring to Part 3, Section B. This document refers to high peak and average power. What is considered to be high peak power, and what is considered to be high average power?

A1: High peak power (specifically RMS) varies between megawatts to gigawatts depending on the specific frequency and microwave source technology. For example, sources near 1 to 4 GHz would be considered to have high peak power if greater than 100 MW. However, a 20 GHz source may be considered to have high peak power at 500 kW. High average power is obviously for repetitively pulsed sources, so a repetitive source would be considered high average power if some type of active cooling is required for operation such as chilled water, forced air or any other type of heat exchange system.

Q2: What frequency ranges are primarily of interest?

A2: We are interested in research on sources from 500 MHz to 100 GHz. We have elected to expand our present capability in the 1 to 2 GHz range, to 3 GHz and 10 GHz in the near term.

Q3: Is there interest in achieving a particular pulse width or repetition rate?

A3: Pulse width and repetition rate are going to be driven by the pulsed power employed to power the system. Most pulsed electron sources are 1 microsecond or less, and limited to tens of pulses/sec. Our interest is in pushing the duty cycle (product of pulse width and repetition rate) as high as allowed by materials available to fabricate microwave sources. Obviously we will never be able to get beyond the high average power limits imposed by a microwave load.