Field theory of dielectric Cherenkov maser

The effect of three-dimensional perturbed velocity and three-dimensional perturbed current density on the beam-wave interaction of dielectric Cherenkov maser is analysed by use of the self-consistent linear field theory. Three distinct cases are considered. First, the propagation of the electron beam in an annular dielectric liner enclosed by a loss-free conducting wall is investigated. The dispersion equation and the simultaneous condition of the beam-wave interaction are derived. It's clearly shown that the instability of the interaction results from the coupling of the TM mode in the dielectric lined slow-wave waveguide to the beam mode via the electron beam. And the coupling is proportional to the density of the beam. The growth rate of the wave produced by the electron beam are obtained. Then, the case of a relativistic electron beam guided by a longitudinal magnetic field in the same slow-wave structure is examined. The motion of electrons could be approximated to be one-dimensional when the simultaneous condition of the beam-wave interaction of dielectric Cherenkov maser is satisfied. Finally, the effect of the background plasma on the instability of the beam-wave interaction is studied.This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Coaxial configuration of the dielectric Cherenkov maser

The linearized Lorentz force, continuity equation, and Maxwell's equations are used to calculate the system dispersion relation for a coaxial configuration of the dielectric Cherenkov maser. The system consists of two coaxial conductors lined with dielectric and an annular relativistic electron beam, which propagates between the two liners. The dispersion relation for the beam and dielectric-lined coaxial waveguide structure and the no-beam system that describes the dependence of the generated frequency on the coaxial waveguide parameters are presented. Using the linearized dispersion relation, the growth rate for the beam-TM_0n waveguide mode instability is calculated in the strong-coupling tenuous beam limit     

Ultrawide-bandwidth gain in a coaxial dielectric Cherenkov maser

A coaxial waveguide partially filled with a dielectric as the slow-wave structure of a dielectric Cherenkov maser is investigated. The dispersion of the fundamental mode of this waveguide is very weak at phase velocities close to the velocity of light, and for this reason a very wide gain bandwidth is possible under conditions of an interaction with a relativistic electron beam. The dispersion equation for an infinitely thin tubular beam in a coaxial waveguide with a dielectric liner adjoining either the outer or inner conducting surface is derived. The gain bandwidth as a function of the parameters of the electron beam and the slow-wave system are investigated on the basis of numerical solution of the dispersion equation, and a comparison with similar dependences for the conventional configuration of a dielectric Cherenkov maser is made. The structural features of the coaxial configuration which enable novel approaches to the problems of matching the microwave signal at the entrance and exit of the system are discussed. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 66–72 (May 1997)     

电子束电流对介质切伦科夫脉塞色散关系的影响

采用等离子体流体理论,从线性扰动方程出发,研究了电子束电流大小对介质切伦科夫脉塞中束波相互作用色散关系的影响,得到了当等离子体返回电流能有效中和与不能有效中和电子束电流两种情形下色散关系和波的增长率,并讨论了电子束电流对束波相互作用色散关系和波增长率的影响。研究表明,等离子体返回电流能有效中和与不能有效中和电子束电流两种情况下有着不同的色散关系和波的增长率。在波导参数和背景等离子体参数固定的情况下,电子束电流并不是越大越好,电子束电流过大不利于提高器件效率,它们之间存在最佳匹配关系。     

电子束电流对介质切伦科夫脉塞色散关系的影响

采用等离子体流体理论,从线性扰动方程出发,研究了电子束电流大小对介质切伦科夫脉塞中束波相互作用色散关系的影响,得到了当等离子体返回电流能有效中和与不能有效中和电子束电流两种情形下色散关系和波的增长率,并讨论了电子束电流对束波相互作用色散关系和波增长率的影响。研究表明,等离子体返回电流能有效中和与不能有效中和电子束电流两种情况下有着不同的色散关系和波的增长率。在波导参数和背景等离子体参数固定的情况下,电子束电流并不是越大越好,电子束电流过大不利于提高器件效率,它们之间存在最佳匹配关系。     

薄环形等离子体介质切伦柯夫脉塞

 理论分析了无限大引导磁场情况下的薄环形等离子体介质切伦柯夫脉塞。得出了通入相对论电子注时行列式形式的热腔色散方程,并求出了波增长率。针对不同等离子体密度下,对色散方程以及波增长率进行数值计算和模拟验证。研究发现与电子注作用的主要模式为低频等离子体模式中的前两个模式,随着等离子体密度的升高,脉塞中心工作频率升高、增益变大、带宽明显变宽,由模拟结果可以看出:等离子体频率为4.5×10¹⁹ m^-3时对应着最大的输出功率为80 MW,效率为19.75%,频率为15.55 GHz,继续增大等离子体密度虽然可以使输出频率进一步提高,但是同时会使输出功率迅速下降。     

Relativistic Cherenkov plasma maser of microsecond pulse duration

Experiments with a Cherenkov plasma maser (CPM) driven by a high-current relativistic electron beam of microsecond pulse duration are described. The results obtained show that the principle of operation of the CPM makes it possible to avoid the problem of microwave pulse shortening, which is inherent to vacuum devices of relativistic high-current microwave electronics. A 800-ns microwave pulse with an energy of 21 J was obtained at a peak power level of 40 MW (the efficiency being 4%) in a broad (~100%) frequency band     

填充等离子体的介质同轴波导中的切伦科夫辐射

 利用自洽线性场理论，导出了薄环形相对论电子注通过填充等离子体的介质同轴波导中的注波互作用色散方程，得到了注波互作用产生切伦科夫辐射的同步条件和波增长率。分析了填充等离子体后的波与电子注之间的能量交换及等离子体密度对色散特性、波增长率和注波能量交换的影响。分析结果表明：切伦科夫辐射是由沿介质同轴波导传播的慢波与沿薄环形相对论电子注传播的负能空间电荷波耦合所致，且其耦合强度与电子注的密度成正比；输出频率和波增长率随着填充等离子体密度的增大而提高；保持一定的输出频率，增大电子注的束流可得到高的微波输出功率。     

Quantum regime for dielectric Cherenkov radiation and graphene surface plasmons

In this article, we propose a quantum regime for Cherenkov free-electron laser (CFEL) and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excited in dielectric and multilayer graphene waveguides, respectively. This quantum regime is realized when the momentum spread induced in the interaction is smaller than the photon recoil. The discrete momentum exchange characterizing this interaction yields a significantly narrow single emission line. To determine the condition of the quantum regime, we derive an expression for the gain in the Cherenkov effect using a quantum mechanical treatment. It is assumed that the effective spread in momentum is due to the finite interaction length L (or the propagation length in the case of SPPs). For both cases, CFEL and SPPs, the effects of electron beam and waveguide parameters on the possibility of the quantum regime are studied. We conclude that the quantum regime can be basically verified at low electron beam energy (<40 keV) and at emission wavelengths in the near infrared range (<5 μm) when L is in the order of millimeters. In the case of SPPs, we also show that the feasibility to realize quantum SPPs is enhanced by increasing the chemical potential and number of graphene layers.     

Cherenkov radiation emitted by a vortex into an anisotropic dielectric

The fields produced by a Josephson vortex moving in a sandwich placed into an anisotropic dielectric are investigated. When the vortex velocity exceeds the velocity of light in the direction of the normal to the sandwich surface, Cherenkov emission of electromagnetic waves propagating from the sandwich to the bulk of the dielectric takes place. The Poynting vector of outgoing waves is determined. It is shown that the radiation directivity considerably depends on the degree of anisotropy in the permittivity. The radiation loss power of the vortex is determined, and the relation between the transport current and the vortex velocity is established.     

Simplified nonlinear theory of the dielectric loaded rectangular Cerenkov maser

To rapidly and accurately investigate the performance of the dielectric loaded rectangular Cerenkov maser, a simplified nonlinear theory is proposed, in which the variations of wave amplitude and wave phase are determined by two coupled first-order differential equations. Through combining with the relativistic equation of motion and adopting the forward wave assumption, the evolutions of the forward wave power, the power growth rate, the axial wave number, the accumulated phase offset, and the information of the particle movement can be obtained in a single-pass calculation. For an illustrative example, this method is used to study the influences of the beam current, the gap distance between the beam and the dielectric surface, and the momentum spread on the forward wave. The variations of the saturated power and the saturation length with the working frequency for the beams with different momentum spreads have also been studied. The result shows that the beam-wave interaction is very sensitive to the electron beam state. To further verify this simplified theory, a comparison with the result produced from a rigorous method is also provided, we find that the evolution curves of the forward wave power predicted by the two methods exhibit excellent agreement. In practical applications, the developed theory can be used for the design and analysis of the rectangular Cerenkov maser.     

On the polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation from a dielectric screen

The Cherenkov effect is a well-known phenomenon and its properties are widely used in many fields of physics. However, some features of the polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation that appears when charged particles pass near azimuthally asymmetric, finite dielectric targets are still poorly studied. This problem is solved in this work. The polarization characteristics of Cherenkov radiation in the case of a rectangular dielectric screen are analyzed using the Stokes approach. Owing to the azimuthal asymmetry of the target, radiation acquires an elliptic polarization whose rotation direction and inclination angle depend both on the direction of radiation propagation and on the dielectric properties of a substance. The results demonstrate that the Cherenkov effect can be used to create sources of elliptically polarized radiation with the controlled direction of polarization rotation.     

Detection of diffraction radiation in a dielectric target simultaneously with Cherenkov radiation

The effect of the simultaneous generation of Cherenkov radiation and diffraction radiation in a dielectric target by electrons that pass near it has been experimentally studied. It has been shown that diffraction radiation appears at the upstream edge of the dielectric target, propagates inside the target, and is refracted at the down-stream edge as a beam of real photons.     

X-band dielectric Cerenkov maser amplifier experiment

An X-band dielectric Cerenkov maser amplifier experiment is reported. The amplifier system consisted of a solid, thermionically generated electron beam propagating through a cylindrical waveguide partially filled with an annular, dielectric liner. The input signal was provided by a tunable (9-10.3 GHz) magnetron with power up to 10 kW. Electron beam voltages and currents of up to 250 kV and 100 A could be generated for 1 μs pulse durations. The system was configured to operate in the TM₀₁ mode of the dielectric-lined waveguide. In this experiment the gain of the system with respect to the length of the dielectric liner was studied at a fixed input frequency of 10.3 GHz. At electron beam parameters of 160 kV and 60 A, a power gain of 24 dB over 56 cm of interaction length was measured for an input power of 4.5 kW, corresponding to a maximum RF amplified power of 1.15 MW and 12% efficiency     

Effect of self-fields on the electron cyclotron maser instability in a dielectric loaded waveguide

The influence of self-fields on the cyclotron maser instability in a hollow electron beam propagating parallel to a uniform axial magnetic field B ₀ ê _z in a dielectric loaded waveguide is investigated. The theoretical analysis is carried out within the framework of linearized Vlasov-Maxwell equations. It is assumed that the beam is thin with the radial thickness much smaller than the beam radius. A new dispersion relation for azimuthally symmetric electromagnetic perturbation is derived and analyzed numerically. The influence of self-fields on the cyclotron maser instability in a dielectric loaded waveguide for different dielectric medium is studied. It is found that unlike the hollow waveguide the growth rate is increased by increasing self-fields. The instability band width decreases due to the increasing self-fields. The maximum growth rate increases gradually as self-fields increase as regards a different dielectric medium.     

Cherenkov radiation of a Josephson vortex moving in a sandwich embedded in a dielectric medium

A motion of a Josephson vortex in a long sandwich embedded in a dielectric medium is described. If the velocity of the vortex is greater than the velocity of light in the dielectric, terahertz-band Cherenkov radiation is generated and emitted from the lateral surface of the sandwich. The radiation loss power is determined. In the case when radiation loss is compensated for by the energy gain due to transport current, a relation between the current and the velocity of the vortex is obtained.