C.G. Whyte

GYROTRON TRAVELING WAVE AMPLIFIER WITH A HELICAL INTERACTION WAVEGUIDE

A new microwave system in the form of a cylindrical waveguide with a helical corrugation of the inner surface is proposed for a gyrotron traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT). The corrugation radically changes the wave dispersion in the region of small axial wave numbers. This allows significant reduction in the sensitivity of the amplifier to the electron velocity spread and an increase in its frequency bandwidth. An X-band gyro-TWT operating at the second cyclotron harmonic with a 200-keV, 25-A electron beam produced an output power of 1 MW, corresponding to a gain of 23 dB and an efficiency of 20%.

A cusp electron gun for millimeter wave gyrodevices

The experimental results of a thermionic cusp electron gun, to drive millimeter and submillimeter wave harmonic gyrodevices, are reported in this paper. Using a “smooth” magnetic field reversal formed by two coils this gun generated an annular-shaped, axis-encircling electron beam with 1.5 A current, and an adjustable velocity ratio α of up to 1.56 at a beam voltage of 40 kV. The beam cross-sectional shape and transported beam current were measured by a witness plate technique and Faraday cup, respectively. These measured results were found to be in excellent agreement with the simulated results using the three-dimensional code MAGIC.

Helically corrugated waveguide gyrotron traveling wave amplifier using a thermionic cathode electron gun

Experimental operation of a gyrotron traveling wave amplifier with a helically corrugated waveguide using a thermionic cathode electron gun is presented. The coupling between the second harmonic cyclotron mode of the gyrating electron beam and the radiation occurred in the region of near infinite phase velocity over a broad frequency band. With an axis-encircling electron beam of pitch factor of ∼1.2, energy of 185keV, and current of 6.0A, the amplifier achieved an output power of 220kW, saturated gain of 24dB, saturated bandwidth of 8.4to10.4GHz, and an interaction efficiency of 20%.

Gyro-BWO experiments using a helical interaction waveguide

A helically corrugated waveguide was used for a gyrotron backward-wave oscillator (gyro-BWO) experiment. A thermionic cathode was used to produce an electron beam of 90-215 keV in energy, 2-3 A in current, and pitch alpha of up to 1.6. The oscillator achieved high-efficiency frequency-tunable operation. At a fixed beam voltage of 185 kV and a current of 2 A, the output frequency was tuned by adjusting the magnetic field in the interaction cavity. A maximum power of 62 kW and a 3-dB frequency-tuning band of 8.0-9.5 GHz (17% relative tuning range) with a maximum electronic efficiency of 16.5% were measured. In addition, the interaction frequency could be tuned by varying the electron beam energy. At a fixed cavity magnetic field of 0.195 T, the output frequency and power from the gyro-BWO were measured as a function of tuning electron beam energy while the beam current was maintained at 2.5 A. A 3-dB relative frequency tuning range of 8% was measured when the electron beam voltage was changed from 215 to 110 kV.

Axis-encircling electron beam generation using a smooth magnetic cusp for gyrodevices

The generation of an annular-shaped axis-encircling electron beam using a smooth magnetic cusp was studied through numerical simulations and experiments for harmonic operation of a gyrodevice. Two magnetic coils were used to form a magnetic cusp located just downstream from the velvet cathode of an accelerator diode. An electron beam of current 34 A and voltage 130 kV with an adjustable velocity ratio α up to 1.2 was fully transported to the downstream uniform magnetic field region and used to drive a gyrotron traveling wave amplifier into saturation.

Theory and simulations of a gyrotron backward wave oscillator using a helical interaction waveguide

A gyrotron backward wave oscillator (gyro-BWO) with a helically corrugated interaction waveguide demonstrated its potential as a powerful microwave source with high efficiency and a wide frequency tuning range. This letter presents the theory describing the dispersion properties of such a waveguide and the linear beam-wave interaction. Numerical simulation results using the PIC code MAGIC were found to be in excellent agreement with the output measured from a gyro-BWO experiment.

Multi-Mode Coupling Wave Theory for Helically Corrugated Waveguide

Helically corrugated waveguide has been used in various applications such as gyro-backward wave oscillators, gyro-traveling wave amplifier and microwave pulse compressor. A fast prediction of the dispersion characteristic of the operating eigenwave is very important when designing a helically corrugated waveguide. In this paper, multi-mode coupling wave equations were developed based on the perturbation method. This method was then used to analyze a five-fold helically corrugated waveguide used for X-band microwave compression. The calculated result from this analysis was found to be in excellent agreement with the results from numerical simulation using CST Microwave Studio and vector network analyzer measurements.

Design and Numerical Optimization of a Cusp-Gun-Based Electron Beam for Millimeter-Wave Gyro-Devices

A novel thermionic cusp electron gun operating in the temperature-limited regime that produces a large-orbit electron beam through a nonadiabatic magnetic-field reversal was designed, analyzed, and optimized to give an electron-beam ideal for driving gyro-devices, particularly in the millimeter-to-submillimeter-wavelength range due to its small cross-sectional size. The annular-shaped axis-encircling electron beam had a beam current of 1.5 A at an acceleration potential of 40 kV, a tunable velocity ratio alpha (= vperp/vz) between one and three, an optimized axial velocity spread A.vx/vz of ~8%, and a relative alpha spread Deltakappa/alpha of ~10% at an alpha value of 1.65.

Theory of free-electron maser with two-dimensional distributed feedback driven by an annular electron beam

The use of two-dimensional (2D) distributed feedback is considered as a method of providing spatially coherent radiation from an oversized annular electron beam. To realize the feedback mechanism, 2D Bragg structures formed from doubly-corrugated waveguide sections of coaxial geometry are suggested. The properties of two types of coaxial cavities formed using such structures are compared: a single-section 2D Bragg cavity and a two-mirror cavity. The eigenmodes of both cavities are found and their high selectivity over both azimuthal and longitudinal indices was demonstrated. Time-domain analyses of the excitation of the cavities by an annular electron beam were carried out. The influence of the cavity parameters on the oscillation regime is analyzed and discussed. It was shown that for a specific set of 2D Bragg cavity parameters it is possible to obtain a regime of steady-state oscillations when the transverse size of the beam exceeds the wavelength by a few orders of magnitude, while outside this parame...

Experimental studies of two-dimensional coaxial Bragg structures for a high-power free-electron maser

The experimental studies of two-dimensional (2D) coaxial Bragg structures are presented. These structures, which realize 2D distributed feedback, have been recently proposed as a method of producing gigawatt power level spatially coherent radiation from a free-electron maser driven by a large-size relativistic electron beam of annular geometry. The experimentally obtained frequency dependence of transmission coefficients for the 2D Bragg structures are in good agreement with theoretical predictions that demonstrates the operation of the two-dimensional Bragg scattering mechanism.