A klystronlike relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO) with a dual-cavity extractor is presented. The phase of the axial electric field component E z varies by 0° in the dual-cavity extractor, and a larger electric field appears in the second extraction cavity, in comparison with a single-cavity extractor. Such an improved field distribution is beneficial for converting modulated beam power into microwave power. The particle in cell simulation results reveal that microwaves with power of 10 GW, frequency of 4.3 GHz are generated, and conversion efficiency is 48% when diode voltage is 1.2 MV and beam current 17.3 kA.

A high-power high-efficiency klystronlike relativistic backward wave oscillator with a dual-cavity extractor

A novel backward wave oscillator was proposed by utilizing a concise sine waveguide slow-wave structure combined with sheet electron beam to operate at terahertz frequency band. First, the design method was described, and the dispersion curve and interaction impedance of the sine waveguide were calculated, then the device oscillation frequency and operating voltage were determined. Next, the circuit transmission losses were learned over the tunable frequency range. Finally, the particle-in-cell simulation method was applied to predict its signal generation performance. The investigation results show that, the backward wave oscillator can produce over 1.9 -W peak power output at the central operating frequency of 1-THz under 27-kV operating voltage and 5-mA beam current. And the interaction efficiency at 1-THz is more than 1.4% with a circuit length of 7.2-mm. It, therefore, will be considered as a promising watt-class terahertz radiation source.

A watt-class 1-THz backward-wave oscillator based on sine waveguide

This paper describes a new design of a relativistic Cherenkov oscillator with strong modulation of the e-beam current at the input of two-sectioned slow-wave structure, as well as numerical and experimental results on generation of few gigawatt-level $X$ -band pulses with pulse duration of up to 35 ns. Due to special phase shift between two sections and electrodynamic coupling between $E_{01}$ surface wave and $E_{02}$ volume mode, the first one is locked at the upper boundary of the passband and the second one gains more transparency. An electron beam can interact simultaneously with two waves with higher power conversion efficiencies, which in simulations amount up to 47% and 30% for high (~4 T) and low (~1 T) guiding magnetic fields, correspondingly. The tests of the geometry optimized in simulations were performed on the base of SINUS-7 high-current electron accelerator in the diode voltage range of 400–850 kV and current from 7 to 16 kA. The repeated and full-pulsewidth generation of about 1.5-GW microwave power is achieved only in the low magnetic field. The pulse shortening and the mode competition took place in the strong magnetic field. The results are considered as preliminary for creation of the efficient relativistic millimeter-wave oscillators at magnetic fields below the cyclotron resonance.

Two-Wave Cherenkov Oscillator With Moderately Oversized Slow-Wave Structure

A klystron-like relativistic backward wave oscillator with a ratio of transverse dimension to free-space wavelength being about four is presented. In the beam-wave interaction region, the electron beam interacts with surface wave and volume wave simultaneously. The cathode holder plays an important role in the reflection of backward waves. A guard electrode, an electron collector ring, and a reflection ring are used to optimize the beam-wave interaction. The particle in cell simulation results reveal that microwaves with a power of 2 GW and a frequency of 12.3 GHz are generated with an efficiency of 42% when the diode voltage is 400 kV, the beam current 12 kA, and the magnetic field 0.48 T.

A high-efficiency overmoded klystron-like relativistic backward wave oscillator with low guiding magnetic field

High power vacuum electronic devices of millimeter wave to terahertz regime are attracting extensive interests due to their potential applications in science and technologies. In this paper, the design and experimental results of a powerful compact oversized surface wave oscillator (SWO) in Y-band are presented. The cylindrical slow wave structure (SWS) with rectangular corrugations and large diameter about 6.8 times the radiation wavelength is proposed to support the surface wave interacting with annular relativistic electron beam. By choosing appropriate beam parameters, the beam-wave interaction takes place near the π-point of TM01 mode dispersion curve, giving high coupling impedance and temporal growth rate compared with higher TM0n modes. The fundamental mode operation of the device is verified by the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation results, which also indicate its capability of tens of megawatts power output in the Y-band. Finally, a compact experimental setup is completed to validate our design. Measurement results show that a terahertz pulse with frequency in the range of 0.319–0.349 THz, duration of about 2 ns and radiation power of about 2.1 MW has been generated.

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A megawatt-level surface wave oscillator in Y-band with large oversized structure driven by annular relativistic electron beam.

A dual-mode operation mechanism in an overmoded relativistic backward wave oscillator is presented. The electron beam interacts with the −1st space harmonic of TM01 mode synchronously in the slow wave structure. Then the backward propagating TM01 mode is converted to the forward propagating TM02 mode. As the phase velocity of the volume harmonic of TM02 mode is about twice that of the surface harmonic of TM01 mode, the TM02 mode also plays an important role in the high-power microwave generation. Particle-in-cell simulation shows that an efficiency of 48% and a significant improvement of the power capacity have been obtained.

An overmoded relativistic backward wave oscillator with efficient dual-mode operation

Investigation of relativistic backward wave oscillator with high efficiency and power capacity is presented in this paper. To obtain high power and high efficiency, a TM021 mode resonant reflector is used to reduce the pulse shortening and increase power capacity to about 1.7 times. Meanwhile, an extraction cavity at the end of slow wave structure is employed to improve the efficiency from less than 30% to over 40%, through the beam-wave interaction intensification and better energy conversion from modulated electron beam to the electromagnetic field. Consistent with the numerical results, microwave with a power of 3.2 GW, a frequency of 9.75 GHz, and a pulse width of 27 ns was obtained in the high power microwave generation experiment, where the electron beam energy was configured to be ∼910 kV and its current to be ∼8.6 kA. The efficiency of the RBWO exceeds 40% at a voltage range of 870 kV–1000 kV.

Investigation of an improved relativistic backward wave oscillator in efficiency and power capacity

Experimental study on high-power subterahertz waves generated by an overmoded surface wave oscillator (SWO) is carried out in this paper. With accurate fabrication and assembly, the frequency obtained is 0.148 THz as measured by the cut-off waveguide and subharmonic heterodyne methods, and the output power is about 5 MW with the far-field measurement method at a diode voltage of 300 kV, beam current of 2.3 kA, and guiding magnetic field of 5 T. The frequency of the device remains fairly stable when the voltage of the diode changes from 200 to 330 kV. This is a typical feature of the SWO, and is verified by this experiment. The start-up time of the device is as small as 1 ns, which is suitable for use of the device as a short-pulse accelerator with a compact structure.

Experimental Study on a High-Power Subterahertz Source Generated by an Overmoded Surface Wave Oscillator With Fast Startup

A method on electromagnetic mode analysis in overmoded structure terahertz source is studied in this paper. This mode analysis method is based on Fourier-Bessel series and the particle-in-cell simulation. The result of mode analysis shows that there are TM02 and TM03 modes present in the waveguide motivated by mode change in the discontinuity. The mode content keeps stable when the device starts to work. The magnetic field and the voltage of beam do not change the mode content to some extent. The parameters of diode affect the mode content significantly.

Xiaoze Li

Papers

A high-efficiency overmoded klystron-like relativistic backward wave oscillator with low guiding magnetic field

An overmoded relativistic backward wave oscillator with efficient dual-mode operation

Investigation of an improved relativistic backward wave oscillator in efficiency and power capacity

Experimental Study on a High-Power Subterahertz Source Generated by an Overmoded Surface Wave Oscillator With Fast Startup

Analysis of electromagnetic modes excited in overmoded structure terahertz source