Interaction between shock wave and plasma region ionized by millimeter wave beam and its application to pulse detonation system as a microwave rocket

By focusing a high-power millimeter wave beam generated by a 170GHz gyrotron, a breakdown occurred and a shock wave was driven by plasma heated by following microwave energy. The shock wave and the plasma around a focal point of a parabolic thruster were visualized by a shadowgraph method, and a transition of structures between the shock wave and the plasma was observed. There was a threshold local power density to make the transition, and the propagation velocity at the transition was around 800m/s.