Igor V. Pegel

Relativistic X-band BWO with 3-GW output power

Results from a study of a relativistic X-band backward-wave oscillator (RBWO) with 3-GW output microwave power are presented. The RBWO was driven by the high-current electron accelerator SINUS-7. The dependence of radiated microwave pulse duration on microwave power was obtained. Pulse shortening occurring at the higher power levels is probably attributable to explosive electron emission from the slow wave structure (SWS). An increase in the cross section of the electrodynamic structure seems to be a way to increase the microwave pulse duration. Experimental results from a moderately oversized X-band RBWO using a resonance reflector are described. This tube can be operated with a low external magnetic field.

Pulsewidth limitation in the relativistic backward wave oscillator

Spontaneous pulse shortening occurring in a relativistic backward wave oscillator (BWO) at gigawatt power levels is studied in experiment and theory. It is experimentally demonstrated that this phenomenon is accompanied by formation of an explosive-emission plasma at the surface of the corrugated slow-wave structure (SWS). Termination of microwave emission is explained by the increase of the BWO starting current from the absorption of the operating electromagnetic wave by electrons emitted from the plasma, whereas the intensity of the absorption radically increases offing to the presence of positive ions emitted from the plasma. Application of oil-free vacuum and electrochemical polishing of the SWS surface in an X-band BWO allowed generation of 3-GW, 26-ns microwave pulses with an energy of /spl sim/80 J, thereby demonstrating pulse lengthening by a factor of four.

A vircator with electron beam premodulation based on high-current repetitively pulsed accelerator

The paper describes theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies of a decimeter wavelength vircator with electron beam premodulation. Possible mechanisms for the excitation of electromagnetic oscillations in virtual cathode systems are analyzed (modulation of current, reflex klystron effect, and inertial bunching of reflected particles). It is demonstrated that the microwave efficiency in a double-gap virtual-cathode system may be substantially higher than that in a single-gap one. Based on one- and three-dimensional numerical simulations, an experimental mockup of double-gap vircator without external magnetic field has been developed. In experiments employing the SINUS-7 high-current repetitively-pulsed electron accelerator, single-mode microwave generation in the S-band was obtained with /spl sim/1 GW peak power and /spl sim/25 ns pulse width at about 5% efficiency. The generator showed frequency stability from pulse to pulse and throughout each pulse, which proves the dominant role of the electrodynamic system used in the vircator construction. Varying the cavity parameters allowed continuous frequency tuning within about 15% at half power. Sample batch operation of the system at 20 and 50 p.p.s. was demonstrated.

Decimeter-band frequency-tunable sources of high-power microwave pulses

This article describes S-band sources of high-power microwave (HPM) pulses: a resonant backward wave oscillator (BWO) producing ∼5-GW, 100-J pulses, based on the SINUS-7 electron accelerator, and a double-section vircator with a peak power of ∼1 GW and a pulse width of 20-50 ns, powered from either the SINUS-7 accelerator or the MARINA inductive-store pulse driver with a fuse opening switch.

Compact 1000 pps high-voltage nanosecond pulse generator

A compact high-voltage nanosecond generator is described with pulse repetition rate of up to 1000 pps. The generator includes a 30-/spl Omega/ coaxial forming line charged by a built-in Tesla transformer with high coupling coefficient, and a high voltage (N/sub 2/) gas gap switch with gas circulating between the electrodes. The maximum forming line charge voltage is 450 kV, the pulse duration is /spl sim/4 ns, and its amplitude for a matched load is up to 200 kV. The generator has been applied to create powerful sources of ultrawide-band electromagnetic radiation and nanosecond microwave pulses.

Pulsed power-driven high-power microwave sources

The advent of pulsed power technology in the 1960s has enabled the development of very high peak power sources of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave and millimeter wave bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such sources have applications in plasma physics, particle acceleration techniques, fusion energy research, high-power radars, and communications, to name just a few. This article describes recent ongoing activity in this field in both Russia and the United States. The overview of research in Russia focuses on high-power microwave (HPM) sources that are powered using SINUS accelerators, which were developed at the Institute of High Current Electronics. The overview of research in the United States focuses more broadly on recent accomplishments of a multidisciplinary university research initiative on HPM sources, which also involved close interactions with Department of Defense laboratories and industry. HPM sources described in this article have generated peak powers exceeding several gigawatts in pulse durations typically on the order of 100 ns in frequencies ranging from about 1 GHz to many tens of gigahertz.

Coherent Summation of Power of Nanosecond Relativistic Microwave Oscillators

The possibility of developing a two-channel nanosecond relativistic microwave oscillator with a phase stability in each channel sufficient for coherent summation of their electromagnetic fields is demonstrated experimentally. In experiments, vacuum diodes of two independent superradiant backward wave oscillators operating in 10-GHz frequency range were connected to a common voltage source with a subnanosecond pulse rise time, which ensured the fixation of the initial phase of electromagnetic oscillations. The measured values of the phase difference jitter of the channel electromagnetic oscillations amount to several percent of the oscillation period.

Production of short microwave pulses with a peak power exceeding the driving electron beam power

This article presents results of theoretical and experimental studies on the production of ultrashort ~a few RF cycles duration! microwave pulses of gigawatt peak powers based on superradiance from high-current electron beams. With the Cherenkov backward-wave‐electron-beam interaction in a low-dispersion slow-wave structure, microwave pulses with a peak power greater than the peak power of the driving electron beam have been produced for the first time. In an experiment using the SINUS-150 compact high-current electron accelerator, with a 2.6-kA injected beam current and a 330-kV electron energy, microwave pulses of 1.2 GW peak power and;0.5 ns duration ~FWHM! were generated in the X-band. Production of superradiance pulses in a repetitive regime ~3500 Hz! in the Ka-band has been demonstrated using a compact hybrid SOS-modulator. The effect of spatial accumulation of microwave energy in extended slow-wave structures with substantially nonuniform coupling has been demonstrated. In an experiment using the SINUS-200 compact accelerator, X-band pulses of ;3 GW peak power and 0.6‐0.7 ns width~FWHM! were produced with a power conversion efficiency of 150‐180% and an energy efficiency of ;15%.

Review of studies of superradiative microwave generation in X band and Ka band relativistic BWOs

This paper presents a review of recent studies of superradiant (SR) regime of high-power microwave generation of relativistic backward-wave tubes. The fundamental possibility of producing microwave pulses with peak power substantially exceeding the driving electron beam power was demonstrated in theory and simulation. In experiments, beam-to-microwaves power conversion factors of 1.5 in the Ka band and up to 1.8 in the X band were achieved. High-efficiency Ka band generation was obtained at a low B field (2 T) below the cyclotron resonance. With the use of a dc solenoid, SR pulses were generated in a batch mode at a pulse repetition frequency of 1000-3500 Hz.

Experimental studies of long-lifetime cold cathodes for high-power microwave oscillators

Operation of explosive-emission cold cathodes made from various materials was studied at a large number of pulses at current densities of /spl sim/1.0/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/. The cathode voltage and the beam current were /spl sim/500 kV and 5 kA, respectively, with a pulsewidth of /spl sim/20 ns. At a small number of pulses (/spl les/10/sup 3/), cathodes of like geometry (even made from different materials) demonstrated similar emission properties. For most of the materials tested, with a large number of pulses (/spl ges/10/sup 3/), the current risetime increased to the fullwidth of the voltage pulse and the maximum current of the vacuum diode decreased. When using a graphite cathode, the maximum current remained invariant until 10/sup 8/ pulses. Mass losses were measured for a series of cathode materials. The results obtained offered the possibility to realize long-lived operation of an X-band relativistic backward-wave oscillator with an almost invariant output power of 350-400 MW during 10/sup 8/ pulses at a pulse repetition rate of 100-150 p.p.s.