A survey of narrowband IEMI global threats

Abstract

Intentional EMI (IEMI) or high power microwave (HPM) sources have been studied for over 40 years. Originally researchers in the United States and the former Soviet Union dominated the field. Today dozens of countries are actively pursuing programs in developing such sources. Early developments in the field were motivated by researchers pursuing sources with ever-greater output power levels and longer pulse durations (greater energy). The phenomenon of pulse shortening was recognized in the mid 1990's as a fundamental barrier to this power derby and researchers regrouped to pursue other advances. Virtual prototyping using sophisticated particle-in-cell (PIC) codes was recognized as a critical tool at this time as well for source researchers. Novel advances are now routinely motivated by virtual prototyping. The global field in HPM source research in the last couple of years has been dominated by multispectral sources and phase coherent sources. This presentation will survey recent global advances in narrowband HPM source research.