A coaxial solid state nonlinear pulse forming line with an exponentially tapered ferrite composite core.

The need to optimize size, weight, and power of high-power microwave (HPM) systems has motivated the development of solid-state HPM sources, such as nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs), which utilize gyromagnetic precession or dispersion to generate RF. One recent development implemented the NLTL as a pulse forming line (PFL) to form a nonlinear pulse forming line (NPFL) system that substantially reduced the system's size by eliminating the need for a separate PFL; however, matching standard loads can be challenging. This paper describes the development of a tapered NPFL using an exponentially tapered composite based ferrite core containing 60% nickel zinc ferrite (by volume) encased in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and encapsulated in a 5% barium strontium titanate shell.

Nonlinear transmission line implemented as a combined pulse forming line and high-power microwave source.

Nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) are typically driven by pulse forming lines (PFLs) or Marx generators to generate high repetition rate, high power microwaves (HPMs) with fewer auxiliary systems than conventional sources. This paper reports the development of an even more compact HPM system that utilizes a composite-based hybrid NLTL as the PFL and HPM generator in a single device. We designed the following three different combinations of nickel zinc ferrite (NZF) and barium strontium titanate (BST) inclusion volume loads in a polydimethylsiloxane host material to provide magnetic field dependent permeability and electric field dependent permittivity, respectively: 25% NZF, 10% BST/15% NZF, and 15% BST/10% NZF.