IMPULSIVE COLD CATHODE PHOTOELECTRON ACCELERATOR

THIS IS A FEASIBILITY STUDY TO EVALUATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE FOR RAPID DEPOSITION OF ENERGY IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AT LEVELS COMPARABLE WITH MEGATON DETONATIONS AT 200 KILOMETERS TO PROVIDE BASELINE DATA FOR PREDICTING INFRARED EMISSIONS FROM HIGH ALTITUDE NUCLEAR DETONATIONS. PREVIOUS MEASUREMENTS UTILIZED PULSES OF ELECTRONS LASTING SEVERAL SECONDS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIGHER ENERGY DEPOSITION PER UNIT VOLUME AND HIGHER IONIZATION LEVELS OVER A RANGE OF MEASUREMENT ALTITUDES AND TO MORE CLOSELY APPROXIMATE THE NUCLEAR CASE, PULSES WHICH ARE MUCH SHORTER IN TIME AND HIGHER IN POWER ARE NEEDED. UNDER THE PROPOSED PROJECT, THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF AN IMPULSIVE DEPOSITION TECHNIQUE USING BEAMS OF ELECTRONS EMITTED FROM FLASHLAMP-DRIVEN PHOTOCATHODES WILL BE ANALYZED AND DEMONSTRATED IN THE LABORATORY. A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A SOUNDING ROCKET PAYLOAD WILL BE PREPARED. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE IMPULSIVE DEPOSITION PAYLOAD ARE COMPARABLE TO THE EXCEDE III PAYLOAD.