Progress in pulsed high power microwave source research at the University of Strathclyde

In general the coherent gain in high power microwave sources arises from the collective interaction of a beam of electrons with the electromagnetic fields of a cavity. In the case of pulsed microwave sources the electron beam itself is pulsed and is supplied from pulsed power supplies. The term "microwave" is taken here as applying to the electromagnetic wave spectrum in the range 1-300 GHz. Microwave sources can be continuous (CW) or pulsed and "high power" in this context typically means CW sources with average powers of 10's of kWs to MWs and pulsed sources capable of peak powers from MWs to GWs and beyond.