Diagnostics of pulsed power microwaves and mm-waves

Given that TW electrical pulse generators exist, a conversion efficiency of 10% leads to the conclusion that 100 GW peak microwave power, given breakdown limits and several specific device problems, may be the practical upper limit, at present, which requires the design of diagnostic measurement systems. A figure of merit for certain types of application in this field is the product Pf². The significance of this product derives from the diffraction limits of conventional electromagnetic wave propagation. A 110 kW one millimeter wavelength beam has approximately the same power density as a 100 GW thirty centimetre wavelength beam at the same distance from a fixed-size antenna. Depending upon the needs of the individual applications the diagnostics discussed here are relevant to the range 1 GHz<f<300 GHz. The pulse lengths of interest fall typically in the range 10^-5 to 10^-9 seconds and the repetition frequencies can go from `single shot´ to several kHz