ABSTRACT
The possible applications of high-power microwaves span a wide range of technologies. The plasma physics community has already taken advantage of recent advances in applying high-power microwaves and millimetre waves in the areas of RF-plasma production, heating, non-inductive current drive and active plasma diagnostics for magnetic confinement thermonuclear fusion research, such as lower hybrid current drive (1–8 GHz), electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) (28–160 GHz), electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD), collective Thomson scattering and heat-pulse propagation experiments. Other important applications are electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) discharges for generation of multiply charged ions and soft X-rays, high-frequency broadband electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy as well as industrial materials processing and plasma chemistry. Future applications which await the development of novel high-power microwave sources include high resolution radar ranging and imaging in atmospheric and planetary science, deep-space and specialised satellite communications, RF drivers for the next-generation high-gradient linear accelerators (supercolliders), space propulsion and power beaming to spacecraft and generation of gas discharges in the upper atmosphere and stratosphere (artificially ionised layer: AIL) for various purposes.
The present Chapter concentrates on multiply charged ion and soft X-ray sources, high frequency broadband ESR, microwave processing of advanced ceramics, millimetre-wave radar and RF drivers for TeV linear electron-positron colliders.
