High-power microwave test facility based on double-anode relativistic tetrode (DART) oscillators

High-power microwave (HPM) sources for testing systems and components at high peak powers and high energy fluences are described. Peak powers of up to 400 MW are radiated using a 150 ns, 650 kV pulse-power device to drive a class of microwave tubes termed double-anode relativistic tetrode oscillators. The DART class of devices is particularly useful for facility testing because the devices (1) provide pencil beam output at high exposure levels, (2) are fully tunable over ~25% bandwidth, and (3) are compatible with a wide variety of low-cost horns which provide various antenna gains. A 1 MW L-band magnetron provides power densities and energy fluences exceeding 500 W/cm² and 2 mJ/cm² for μs pulse lengths at repetition rates to 120 Hz. The RF test environment is characterized using redundant in-situ and free-field RF diagnostics and a VAX-based data acquisition and archival system. The capability for both single-shot and repetitive testing is discussed