Pulsed discharges produced by strong microwaves

The paper reviews the main types of pulsed self-sustained discharges produc ed in gas by strong microwaves. The paper lists base types of microwave gen erators used to produce pulsed discharges and classifies the discharges rel ative to their base parameters: the way the discharge gets localized in a l imited space, amplitude and frequency of the microwave field, gas pressure and composition, duration of microwave pulses. The paper analyses potential s of pulsed microwave discharges for manufacture of diamond films, ozone ge neration and pumping of nitrogen and excimer lasers.