Use of fiber optics in electro-magnetic pulse systems

To control or measure capacitive discharge systems for generating fast risetime electromagnetic pulses, three fiber optics coupled electro-optical systems capable of operating in a high electromagnetic environment were developed. The 300 dB/km loss Galileo fiber optics with the direct butting selected as optical coupling scheme are employed in the pulse generators built for the projects TRESTLE and SHIVA. Using the same capacitor discharge method to generate fast risetime (10 ns) electromagnetic fields, the TRESTLE generator having four GaAs lasers driven by avalanche mode operating transistors forms high voltage pulses, whereas that of the SHIVA generates high amperage. The goal of the project TRESTLE was to construct two large antenna arrays driven by Marx generators to generate large area electromagnetic fields with E fields as high as 1 MV/M. These fields were used to test the susceptibility of airborne electronics. The paper includes major specifications for the fiber optics, and technical characteristics and schemes of the generator optical and electronic subsystems.