Demonstration of the frequency upshifting of microwave radiation byrapid plasma creation |
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| Authors: | Joshi C.J. Clayton C.E. Marsh K. Hopkins D.B. Sessler A. Whittum D. |
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| Affiliation: | Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Univ., Los Angeles, CA; |
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| Abstract: | A technique for frequency-upshifting electromagnetic radiation is demonstrated. By ionizing azulene vapor contained in a resonant cavity using a laser pulse, the frequency of the incident RF wave at 33.3 GHz is upshifted by 5% with greater than 10% efficiency. Maximum frequency upshift of 2.3 times the source frequency is observed. There are two mechanisms thought to be operative in producing the observed frequency upshift: the time-dependent dielectric constant due to increasing plasma density, and rapid Q-switching of the cavity. This technique has the potential of being able to generate tunable and chirped radiation over a very broad (Δf/f≳1) frequency range |
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