TY - JOUR
T1 - Contributing factors to window flashover under pulsed high power microwave excitation at high altitude
AU - Edmiston, G.
AU - Neuber, A.
AU - McQuage, L.
AU - Krile, J.
AU - Krompholz, H.
AU - Dickens, J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Cathode and HPM Breakdown MURI program funded and managed by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
PY - 2007/8
Y1 - 2007/8
N2 - One of the major limiting factors for the transmission of high power microwave (HPM) radiation is the interface between dielectric-vacuum or even more severely between dielectric-air if HPM is to be radiated into the atmosphere. Surface flashover phenomena which occur at these transitions severely limit the power levels which can be transmitted. It is of major technological importance to predict surface flashover events for a given window geometry, material and power level. When considering an aircraft based high power microwave platform, the effects on flashover formation due to variances in the operational environment corresponding to altitudes from sea level to 50,000 feet (760 to 90 Torr; 1 Torr=133.3 Pa) are of primary interest. The test setup is carefully designed to study the influence of each atmospheric variable without the influence of high field enhancement or electron injecting metallic electrodes. Experimental data of flashover delay times across different materials, such as polycarbonate, Teflon®, and high density polyethylene as a function of background pressure and gas type, air, N2, argon are discussed. An empirical relationship between flashover field amplitude and delay time is given.
AB - One of the major limiting factors for the transmission of high power microwave (HPM) radiation is the interface between dielectric-vacuum or even more severely between dielectric-air if HPM is to be radiated into the atmosphere. Surface flashover phenomena which occur at these transitions severely limit the power levels which can be transmitted. It is of major technological importance to predict surface flashover events for a given window geometry, material and power level. When considering an aircraft based high power microwave platform, the effects on flashover formation due to variances in the operational environment corresponding to altitudes from sea level to 50,000 feet (760 to 90 Torr; 1 Torr=133.3 Pa) are of primary interest. The test setup is carefully designed to study the influence of each atmospheric variable without the influence of high field enhancement or electron injecting metallic electrodes. Experimental data of flashover delay times across different materials, such as polycarbonate, Teflon®, and high density polyethylene as a function of background pressure and gas type, air, N2, argon are discussed. An empirical relationship between flashover field amplitude and delay time is given.
KW - Dielectric breakdown
KW - Electromagnetic radiation effects
KW - Flashover
KW - Microwave propagation
KW - Microwave technology
KW - Surface discharges
KW - Waveguides
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34547768197&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TDEI.2007.4286507
DO - 10.1109/TDEI.2007.4286507
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34547768197
SN - 1070-9878
VL - 14
SP - 783
EP - 789
JO - IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
JF - IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
IS - 4
ER -