U-M researchers are developing methods for disabling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) using electromagnetic waves. Through the use of a recirculating planar magnetron, engineers in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences department hope to jam or burn out the electronics in IEDs or vehicles that pose a danger to soldiers in the field. The researchers are developing two patents, one that utilizes a custom device, and another that uses an off-the-shelf magnetron typically used for cooking bacon.
ABOUT THE PROFESSOR: Professor Gilgenbach is the Chair and and Chihiro Kikuchi Collegiate Professor of the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. He specializes in Pulsed-power-driven inertial confinement fusion research, intense electron beam dynamics, high power microwave generation, magneto-Rayleigh Taylor instability, plasma effects in pulsed accelerators.
