An Integrated Portable High-Voltage Ultra-Wideband Transmitter

"High-voltage Ultra-Wideband transmitters are a key component in a wide variety of systems involving directed energy weapons, UWB radar, and secure communications. These applications require a UWB transmitter that combines a portable high-gain antenna witha fast-risetime high-voltage triggered source that is battery powered. Until recently, both the antennas and sources were too large and heavy to be practical for portable operation. New technologies are now available in both UWB sources and antennas that,when combined, would allow one to build a lightweight transmitter. Such a device would integrate a compact triggered wave-erection Marx generator into the center support of a Collapsible Impulse Radiating Antenna (CIRA). CIRAs with a four-foot diameterhave already demonstrated outstanding performance in transmitting low-voltage signals, and these antennas could be enhanced for higher voltages. In addition, compact versions of a wave erection Marx generator have already been demonstrated with 300 kV peakvoltage and 200 ps risetime. To achieve a compact UWB transmitter, we propose to integrate a compact Marx generator into the center support rod of a CIRA. The size of the resulting transmitter when collapsed would be about four inches in diameter, 2.5 feetin length, and would weigh about 15 pounds. During Phase I we will build both a prototype CIRA and a wave-erection Marx generator, which could be combined to form an integrated UWB tr