Title :
Quasi-optical cavity dumping at millimetre wave frequencies
Author :
Smith, G.M. ; Lesurf, J.C.G. ; Cui, Y. ; Dunn, M.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys. & Astronomy, St. Andrews Univ., Fife, UK
Abstract :
A thin silicon wafer illuminated by a Q-switched frequency-doubled Nd-YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) laser is used as a very fast, ultra-low-loss, quasi-optical, photoconductive switch to cavity-dump a millimeter-wave open resonator. This novel scheme should provide short pulses at millimeter-wave frequencies with power gains of several hundred from conventional continuous-wave (CW) sources. The switch has extremely low insertion loss and can switch on timescales of a few nanoseconds. Potential applications are in high-resolution radar, plasma diagnostics, and pulsed electron spin resonance experiments.<>
Keywords :
cavity resonators; circulators (microwave); laser beam applications; photoconducting devices; Nd-YAG Q-switched laser; Si; insertion loss; millimeter-wave open resonator; millimetre wave frequencies; photoconductive switch; plasma diagnostics; power gains; pulsed electron spin resonance; quasi-optical cavity dumping; radar; Aluminum; Frequency; Garnets; Insertion loss; Millimeter wave radar; Photoconductivity; Radar applications; Silicon; Switches; Yttrium;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium Digest, 1993., IEEE MTT-S International
Conference_Location :
Atlanta, GA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1209-0
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.1993.276921
