By focusing a high‐power millimeter wave beam generated by a 170 GHz gyrotron, a breakdown occurred and a shock wave was driven by plasma heated by following microwave energy. The shock wave and the plasma around a focal point of a parabolic thruster were visualized by a shadowgraph method, and a transition of structures between the shock wave and the plasma was observed. There was a threshold local power density to make the transition, and the propagation velocity at the transition was around 800 m/s.
Visualization of Shock Wave Driven by Millimeter Wave Plasma in a Parabolic Thruster
BEAMED ENERGY PROPULSION: 6th International Symposium ; 2009 ; Scottsdale (Arizona)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 1230 , 1 ; 387-394
2010-05-06
8 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Visualization of Shock Wave Driven by Millimeter Wave Plasma in a Parabolic Thruster
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