Study of optical output couplers for submillimeter wavelength backward-wave oscillators (BWO's)

The machining of slow wave structures for high frequency BWO's is extremely difficult beyond l THz. Recently a microfabrication technique using photolithography and ion-beam assisted etching has been used to construct a prototype BWO operating at 200 to 265 GHz.The output coupler for such tubes remains a problem. Waveguides do not exist or are very lossy at the frequencies of interest (300 to 2000 GHz).This paper discusses several scaled experiments of optical output couplers for submillimeter BWO's. Various designs of planar antennas (Vivaldi horns) and lens-feed systems (hyperhemispherical lens) were constructed and tested between 20 and 100 GHz using a spectrum analyzer. The lens system was also tested at 337 GHz using a CO₂ pumped FIR laser.     

Excitation of microwave by an annular electron beam in a plasma-filled dielectric lined waveguide

An axial relativistic electron beam passing through a slow wave structure is unstable to an electromagnetic perturbation whose phase velocity equals the velocity of the beam. This phenomenon of Cherenkov emission is the basis of all traveling wave tubes. In this paper an excitation of Cherenkov radiation by a thin annular relativistic electron beam in a plasma-filled dielectric-lined waveguide is analysed by use of the self-consistent linear theory. The effect of the thin annular electron beam on the beam-wave interaction is completely described by a jump condition. The dispersion equation and the simultaneous condition of the beam-wave interaction are derived. Finally, the growth rate of the wave is obtained, and the effect of the background plasma density and the electron beam radius on the growth rate of the wave are presented.This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Large-signal theory of gyro traveling wave tubes at cyclotronharmonics

A nonlinear theory of gyrotron traveling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) at cyclotron harmonics has been developed taking into account the electron velocity spread and the possibility of operating with significant Doppler frequency up-shift (CARM operation). It is shown that the orbital efficiency of the relativistic gyro-TWT operating at the second cyclotron harmonic with large frequency up-conversion may exceed 60%. It is also shown that the influence of the axial inhomogeneity of the wave field on the relation between amplitudes of electric and magnetic fields of the wave causes small changes in the efficiency of gyro-TWTs. The results obtained demonstrate the sensitivity of the harmonic gyro-TWT efficiency with respect to electron velocity spread at different axial wave numbers. The expressions for the gain are derived and discussed,     

Large Signal Analysis and Computation for Millimeter Wave TWTs

The large signal operating equations are described by charge plate model in traveling wave tube (TWT). The large signal nonlinear equations have been solved by calculating inductive current of electron beam, circuit voltage exited by electron beam, beam velocity and phase affected by circuit field. The calculating results are given for Ka-band TWT in the paper.     

International Workshop on High Power Microwave Generation and PulseShortening

The following topics were dealt with: high power microwave generation; pulse shortening; fast wave devices; gyrotron oscillators; gyrotron amplifiers; free electron lasers; free electron masers; cyclotron resonance masers; slow wave devices; backward wave oscillators; plasma-filled devices; crossed-field devices; magnetrons; MILOs; devices based on transit time effects; virtual cathode devices; klystrons; traveling wave tubes; electron beam formation and oscillations, impulse sources; computational and calculational techniques, experimental techniques, applications     

Millimeter-Wave HF Relativistic Electron Oscillators

A review of the experimental study of single-mode oscillators based on stimulated bremsstrahlung and Cerenkov radiation of high-current relativistic electron beams is given. Three types of Cerenkov oscillators are investigated in detail: orotrons, surface wave oscillators and a flimatron (free electron maser (FEM) based on Smith-Purcell radiation). The bremsstrahlung oscillators studied are gyrotrons with TM modes, a ubitron operating at a quasi-critical frequency and cyclotron autoresonance masers. Electrodynamic and electron methods of mode selection provide stable radiation with a reproducible space structure of radiation in all oscillators under study. The radiation power attained 50-100 MW for long and 10-30 MW for short millimeter wavelengths at the efficiency up to 5-10 percent. Various types of oscillators are compared. Promising methods for increasing power and radiation frequency are discussed.     

Backward-wave interaction using step periodic structures

Periodicities introduced into hollow waveguides with step and turn symmetry are shown to have characteristics useful for backward-wave interaction in microwave electron tubes. Using Floquet's theorem, it is shown that the modes of a hollow waveguide can be shifted in phase over one period of the structure. Interaction with the shifted backward-wave mode is then possible over a range of frequencies. A gyrotron backward-wave oscillator is particularly suited to this structure; the interaction could be magnetically tuned over a range of frequencies, while a low phase constant is maintained. A lower phase constant allows the electron beam to interact coherently with the backward wave over longer distances, since any velocity spread in the electron beam forces some of the electrons to be out of step with the backward wave, thus reducing efficiency. A solid waveguide has the added advantages of being easily built for high frequencies and rugged for high temperatures.     

Theoretical Study for Folded Waveguide Traveling Wave Tube

A wideband folded waveguide traveling-wave tube (TWT) amplifier has advantages of simpler coupling structures and robust structure over the conventional helix TWT. The phase velocity of waves in folded waveguide is slowed down to the velocity of electron beam. Slow-wave interaction with the electron beam in folded waveguide is studied in a linear fashion. For a cold beam, the linear theory predicts a gain of 2 dB/cm and a bandwidth of 37% at the center frequency of 14 GHz. A closed algebraic dispersion relation for the frequency and the axial phase shift per period is obtained using an equivalent circuit model. Numerical solution calculated from the dispersion relation and three-dimensional electromagnetic code, HFSS simulations predict a mode coalescing in the folded waveguide. And a theoretical phase velocity prediction of the electromagnetic wave in this circuit is verified by HFSS simulations.     

Nonlinear time-dependent simulation of helix traveling wave tubes

A one-dimensional nonlinear time-dependent theory for helix traveling wave tubes is studied. A generalized electromagnetic field is applied to the expression of the radio frequency field. To simulate the variations of the high frequency structure, such as the pitch taper and the effect of harmonics, the spatial average over a wavelength is substituted by a time average over a wave period in the equation of the radio frequency field. Under this assumption, the space charge field of the electron beam can be treated by a space charge wave model along with the space charge coefficient. The effects of the radio frequency and the space charge fields on the electrons are presented by the equations of the electron energy and the electron phase. The time-dependent simulation is compared with the frequency-domain simulation for a helix TWT, which validates the availability of this theory.     

L波段强流单束团注入器的束流动力学计算

自由电子激光器要求高亮度、低能散度的电子束注入波荡器(Undulator)。本文叙述提供高亮度电子束的高频电子直线加速器中的注入器部分的设计计算。注入器由L波段(1300MHz)的十二分频和三分频两个谐振腔预聚束器和一个基波频率的变相速聚束器组成。粒子运动方程中考虑了空间电荷效应和束流负载效应。电子枪的注入参数:脉冲宽度T=4ns;电流I=5A;电子的初始动能E_0=100keV;电子束分布为高斯型。参数优化设计结果:单束团宽度小于25ps,峰值电流达400A以上,电子的平均归一化能量>4,束团内的能量差小于200keV。     

Passive mode locking and formation of dissipative solitons in electron oscillators with a bleaching absorber in the feedback loop

The mechanisms of passive mode locking and formation of ultrashort pulses in microwave electron oscillators with a bleaching absorber in the feedback loop have been analyzed. It is shown that in the group synchronism regime in which the translational velocity of particles coincides with the group velocity of the electromagnetic wave, the pulse formation can be described by the equations known in the theory of dissipative solitons. At the same time, the regimes in which the translational velocity of electrons differs from the group velocity and the soliton being formed and moving along the electron beam consecutively (cumulatively) receives energy from various electron fractions are optimal for generating pulses with the maximal peak amplitudes.     

High-efficiency wideband gyro-TWTs and gyro-BWOs with helically corrugated waveguides

We review the studies of gyrotron-type microwave devices whose electrodynamic system has the form of an oversized metal waveguide with a helically corrugated internal surface. For certain parameters, such a corrugation changes radically the waveguide dispersion ensuring an almost constant group velocity of the eigenmode for a small (close to zero) longitudinal wave number in a wide frequency band. The use of “helical” waveguides along with electron optical systems which form near-axis electron beams makes it possible to create high-efficiency amplifiers based on gyro-traveling-wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) with a wide instantaneous frequency band of amplification and gyro-backward-wave oscillators (gyro-BWOs) with continuous wideband tuning of the oscillation frequency. The studied devices are superior to the well-studied microwave sources of this type (gyroklystrons and gyrotrons) in frequency band, by more than an order of magnitude, and are not inferior to them in efficiency even for a wide spread of electron velocities. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 104–117, February 2007.     

速调型相对论返波管理论研究

对速调型相对论返波管慢波结构色散特性及束波相互作用进行了理论研究。色散特性研究表明:器件工作模式为TM01模,近点,耦合阻抗较高。色散特性预测的工作频率与粒子模拟结果非常接近。慢波结构峰值增长率相对较小,这与电子束与慢波结构相距较大有关,因而器件从起振到饱和的时间较长。在束波相互作用理论中,全面考虑了电子束与慢波结构前向波基波、反向波－1次空间谐波及空间电荷场相互作用、谐振反射器对电子束进行的束流调制和能量调制作用,以及调制腔和提取腔处引入的耦合阻抗及轴向波数突变。稳态和非稳态计算结果均获得了超过40%的束波转换效率。     

Nonlinear interactions between electrons and RF waves in crossedelectric and magnetic fields

A laboratory experiment has been initiated to study nonlinear electron-wave interactions. In this experiment, the interaction between a guided RF wave and an electron beam is investigated using a large crossed field amplifier. The electron beam is injected through externally imposed crossed electric and magnetic fields. The large-amplitude RF wave is guided by a serpentine slow wave structure and travels at a phase velocity approximately equal to the average velocity of the electron beam. The formation of long-wavelength density structures has been proposed to affect the emission characteristics of the RF wave itself. Possible applications of the experiment in space plasmas are discussed     

Dependence of relativistic backward wave oscillator properties oneffective beam gamma

The operation of a backward wave oscillator (BWO) is shown to be critically dependent on the energy of the slow space-charge wave of the electron beam. Experimental work parameterizing the dependence of microwave frequency on effective beam energy, γ_beam, reveals that through an understanding of electron-beam dynamics, a BWO could be systematically tuned through a desired frequency range while maintaining a high power of a few hundred megawatts and narrow frequency bandwidth, which was 400 MHz. Through variation of γ_beam, 1.2 to 1.5 for the experiment, the lack of scaling of peak microwave power with the kinetic energy of the electron beam for γ_beam >1.32 was observed. This effect was previously found in numerical simulation. In order to explain this effect, the relationship of the beam current to the space-charge-limiting current for increasing γ_beam is examined. Dramatic evidence of pulse shortening, a phenomenon known to relativistic oscillators, was also seen     

The interaction of high- and low-frequency waves in a free electronlaser

When a free electron laser (FEL) interaction occurs inside a waveguide, there are two possible operating frequencies at the two intersections of the beam line with the waveguide dispersion curve. Using a one-dimensional model valid for a low-gain oscillator, the mode competition between the high- and low-frequency waves is studied. It is found that the low-frequency wave can be nonlinearly suppressed, even when its linear growth rate is positive. When the frequency ratio is two, phase locking occurs and the nonlinear gain of the low-frequency wave can exceed its linear growth rate     

Coupling Instability of a Warm Relativistic Electron Beam with Ion-Channel Guiding

In this paper, the coupling instability of warm relativistic electron beam (WREB) propagating through the ion channel guiding is investigated in detail. Obtaining the equilibrium state of the system by considering the self-electric and azimuthal magnetic field, the fluid-Maxwell equations as well as linear perturbation theory are employed to derive the dispersion relation of the excited modes in the system. Numerical analysis of the obtained dispersion relation shows that the electromagnetic (EM) instability can be induced nearly the center of the beam through coupling between the fast electron plasma wave (FEPW), originated from the longitudinal oscillation of WREB, and fast forward electromagnetic wave (FFEW). In this sense, growing the perturbation amplitude occurs due to transport the kinetic energy of WREB to the EM wave at the specific frequency range, where the phase velocity of FEPW and FFEW is coincided. The results of the present investigation will greatly contribute to the understanding of the stability of the warm relativistic electron beam in laboratory experiments, such as in free electron laser experiments, where the ion-channel guiding is used to confine the electrons against the self-repulsive forces generated by the beam itself.     

0.14 THz双环超材料慢波结构表面波振荡器数值研究

本文研究了一种太赫兹波段双环超材料慢波结构, 并具有同轴引出结构的相对论过模表面波振荡器. 设计了超材料同轴过模慢波结构; 通过色散特性, 进行了模式选择和过模结构电子束电参数和几何参数的设计; 根据超材料同轴慢波结构的特点, 设计了具有同轴引出结构的末端同轴输出段. 粒子模拟结果表明, 在电子束电压为600 kV和电流为1.0 kA, 引导磁场为2.0 T 时, 同轴超材料慢波结构过模表面波振荡器输出稳定单频的0.141 THz电磁波, 峰值功率为316.8 MW.     

低磁场S波段相对论返波振荡器的工作特性

为了实现高功率微波发生器的小型化,开展了S波段低磁场相对论返波振荡器工作特性的研究工作。由于S波段返波振荡器频率低,对应的电子回旋共振磁场强度也很低,因此低磁场条件下面临着电子束传输效率低和束波互作用效率低两大问题。为解决上述问题,采取下列措施:通过加大电子束与器件内壁的距离,提高电子束传输效率;采用较深的慢波结构作为提取腔,实现高束波互作用阻抗;提取腔前采用浅深度慢波结构,使提取腔区域的电子速度与微波相速同步。粒子模拟证明,以上措施有效,在引导磁场强度仅为0.17 T、电子束电压435 kV、电流6.5 kA的条件下,该返波管获得功率为670 MW、效率约为25%的输出微波。相对于常规S波段相对论返波振荡器的磁场系统(B=0.8 T),适用于该返波管的0.17 T低强度磁场系统螺线管外半径下降了20%,能耗下降了约93.8%。     

Cubic dispersion relation for a relativistic backward-waveoscillator

The cubic approximation to the dispersion relation for a relativistic backward-wave oscillator is obtained, and the utility and limits of the approximation are presented. The approximation is obtained by Taylor series expansion of the wave admittance in the dispersion relation for the transverse-magnetic and free-streaming modes of a relativistic, thin, hollow, cylindrical electron beam moving along the axis of a disc-loaded waveguide in a strong axial magnetic field. The resulting cubic dispersion relation yields instability growth rates and frequencies which fall off beyond their maximum more sharply with increasing wavenumber than for the complete dispersion relation. The approximation is found to be quite good near the operating points of contemporary high-power relativistic backward-wave oscillators, namely, for relatively long wavelength and small ratio of Budker's parameter to the relativistic gamma factor of the beam