Compact Cyclotron Resonance Maser

There is presently considerable interest in the development of rf sources in the millimeter and submillimeter wave frequency region. The proposed application areas include military radar and communications systems, radio astronomy, atmospheric radiometry, nondestructive dielectric testing, detection systems for concealed weapons, fusion plasma heating, and plasma diagnostics. Specific proposed military applications include high resolution radar for target identification, phased array radar configurations, electronic counter-measures and possible covert communications. Reasonable power is necessary because the attenuation at high frequencies is an important factor that limits the range at which objects can be imaged. Airborne applications in addition require that the source be extremely compact (i.e. small size and light weight). These two somewhat contradictory requirements place extreme burdens on the source design. For example, the high voltage or high magnetic fields associated with conventional microwave tubes operating at such high frequencies are not satisfactory. The purpose of the present work is therefore to develop a compact, relatively high power (> 100 W) rf source in the 90-1000 GHz region which does not suffer from these limitations.