Corona and polio viruses are sensitive to short pulses of W-band gyrotron radiation.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has raised the need of versatile means for virus decontamination. Millimeter waves are used in biochemical research in dynamic nuclear polarization enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (DNP/NMR) spectroscopy. However, their efficiency in object decontamination for viruses has not been tested yet. Here we report the high efficiency of 95 GHz waves in killing both coronavirus 229E and poliovirus. An exposure of 2 s to 95 GHz waves reduced the titer of these viruses by 99.98% and 99.375%, respectively, and formed holes in the envelope of 229E virions as detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The ability of 95 GHz waves to reduce the coronavirus titer to a range of limited infective dose of SARS-CoV-2 for humans and animal models along with precise focusing capabilities for these waves suggest 95 GHz waves as an effective way to decontaminate objects.

Note: A 95 GHz mid-power gyrotron for medical applications measurements.

A mid-power 95 GHz gyrotron was built and used for measuring insertion loss of biological tissue. The gyrotron is a compact table-top device that allows convenient measurements in a biological setup. It operates at the fundamental harmonic with TE02 circular mode. A mode converter is used to obtain TE10 rectangular mode in standard WR10 components. Using this gyrotron, beef tissue insertion loss was measured to be about 7-8 dB per millimeter.