X-band pulse compression using a five-fold helically corrugated waveguide

Summary form only given. Microwave pulse compression has applications in radar technology and plasma diagnostics. The pulse compressor requires a dispersion curve with a monotonic group velocity and low losses in a reasonable wide frequency band. It can be achieved by the helically corrugated waveguide (HCW) [1–3] with both axial and azimuthal periodicity that couples modes in the circular waveguide to generate new operating eigen waves. The HCW has successfully been used in the gyro-TWA [4,5], gyro-BWO [6,7] and pulse compressor[8–10]. Following the success of a pulse compressor using a 3-fold HCW, the dispersion characteristic of the 5-fold HCW has been analytically, numericall y studied and measured. The compression factor of the compressor was also measured.