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Ionization-induced chirping and compression of a high-power microwave pulse. II. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations
Phys. Rev. E 114, 045209 – Published 20 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/d9gd-1jd6
Abstract
This article complements a recent experimental study [A. Haim et al., Phys. Rev. E 114, 045208 (2026)] in which high-power microwave subnanosecond pulses traverse a gas-filled circular waveguide and exit it as a chirped pulse. The reason for this phenomenon is that the ionization of the neutral gas propagates together with the microwave pulse and affects its frequency, resulting in a positively chirped pulse which becomes compressed as it propagates from a gas-filled section into an empty waveguide. In the present article, three-dimensional PIC Monte Carlo simulation results are reported that demonstrate this mechanism. A physical model is developed to explain this complex behavior, which agrees with the simulation results and supports the experimental observations.
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