High power millimeter wave sources as atmospheric sensors

Recent developments in high power millimeter wave sources at NRL have led to an investigation of the use of these sources as atmospheric sensors. Two different sources have been developed, a quasioptical gyrotron
¹
and a TE
₁₃
mode gyrotron.
²
The former is tunable from about 80 to 130 GHz and is capable of an average power in excess of 1 KW. Operation at the harmonic should also be possible but at reduced power. The latter is a fixed frequency source at 94 GHz and should easily be capable of average power in excess of 10 kW.