Resonant antenna-source system for generation of high-power wideband pulses

High-power electromagnetic pulse sources are of interest for a variety of applications such as transient radar and for investigations concerning radio-frequency effects on electronic systems. For such work, a simple, mobile, and robust source system has been developed at the Defence Science and Technology Organization, Edinburgh, Australia. It is comprised of a pulsed-resonant transformer, a spark-gap switch, and a modified biconical antenna. The antenna is charged to a high voltage, in the order of hundreds of kV, by the transformer and then is shorted at the bicone center by the spark-gap switch. The charge energy stored in the antenna then oscillates at the resonant frequency of the system and produces high-power electromagnetic pulses. In this paper, we describe the system design, present results of numerical simulations and measurements, and discuss areas for further improvements in energy-transfer efficiency, and power output.