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     

射频离子源离子束成分光谱测量

为HL-2A 装置中性束注入器研制了引出束功率为1MW 的射频离子源。在测试平台上,实验离子源已经成功引出了束能量和束电流分别为35keV 和12.4A、束质子比为79%、脉宽为100ms 的氢离子束,达到了设计束功率要求的44%。在射频离子源实验平台上,利用多普勒频移光谱方法测量了离子源引出束流成分比例,对比了束流成分和射频离子源引出束流之间的关系。实验数据分析表明,在10A 引出束流的情况下,离子流成分 H⁺ ₁、H⁺ ₂ 和H⁺ ₃ 分别为75%、18%和7%。并且当引出束流从3.3A 升至10.4A 时,H⁺ ₁ 从37%升至78%,而H⁺ ₃ 则从19%降至9%。     

Super-reltron theory and experiments

A highly efficient, high-power microwave tube called super-reltron is reported. The authors have achieved operation at >400 MW with ~50% efficiency at 1 GHz, and 250 MW with 40% efficiency at 3 GHz. The RF pulse durations are typically a few hundred nanoseconds. These compact lightweight tubes do not require an external magnetic field. The RF output coupling is straightforward and delivers the power directly via the fundamental TE₁₀ wave in a rectangular waveguide without a mode converter. The key features of the tube include (i) generation of a well-modulated electron beam by periodic virtual cathode formation, (ii) postacceleration of the modulated beam to reduce the relative electron energy spread, and (iii) a multicavity output section that efficiently extracts power without RF breakdown. Various theoretical aspects of the device are discussed and the experimental results are summarized     

Multimegawatt relativistic harmonic gyrotron traveling-wave tubeamplifier experiments

The first multimegawatt (4 MW, η=8%) harmonic (ω=sΩ_c, s=2,3) relativistic gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-twt) amplifier experiment has been designed, built, and tested. Results from this experimental setup, including the first ever reported third-harmonic gyro-twt results, are presented. Operation frequency is 17.1 GHz. Detailed phase measurements are also presented. The electron beam source is SNOMAD-II, a solid-state nonlinear magnetic accelerator driver with nominal parameters of 400 kV and 350 A. The flat-top pulsewidth is 30 ns. The electron beam is focused using a Pierce geometry and then imparted with transverse momentum using a bifilar helical wiggler magnet. The imparted beam pitch is a α≡β_⊥/β_∥≈1. Experimental operation involving both a second-harmonic interaction with the TE₂₁ mode and a third-harmonic interaction with the TE ₃₁ mode, both at 17 GHz, has been characterized. The third-harmonic interaction resulted in 4-MW output power and 50-dB single-pass gain, with an efficiency of up to ~8% (for 115-A beam current). The best measured phase stability of the TE₃₁ amplified pulse was ±10° over a 9-ns period. The phase stability was limited because the maximum RF power was attained when operating far from wiggler resonance. The second harmonic, TE₂₁ had a peak amplified power of 2 MW corresponding to 40 dB single-pass gain and 4% efficiency. The second-harmonic interaction showed stronger superradiant emission than the third-harmonic interaction. Characterizations of the second- and third-harmonic gyro-twt experiments presented here include measurement of far-field radiation patterns, gain and phase versus interaction length, phase stability, and output power versus input power     

Coaxial cavity gyrotron with dual RF beam output

A 140-GHz, 1.5-MW, TE_28,16-coaxial cavity gyrotron with a dual RF beam output has been designed, built, and tested. For the first time, the generated RF power has been split into two parts and coupled out through two RF output windows in order to reduce the power loading in the windows. The quasioptical output system is based on a two-step mode conversion scheme. First, the cavity mode TE_-28,16 is converted into its degenerate whispering gallery mode TE_+76,2 using a rippled-wall mode converter. Then, this mode is transformed into two TEM₀₀ output wave beams. A maximum rf output power of about 950 kW with an output efficiency of 20% has been measured. According to numerical calculations, an rf power above 1.5 MW is expected to be generated in the cavity. Even if all losses are taken into account, a discrepancy between experiment and calculations remains. The power deficit seems to be partly caused by the influence of the stray radiation captured inside the tube. However, the two main reasons are probably an incomplete mode conversion from TE_-28,16 to TE_+76,2 and a large energy spread of the electron beam due to trapped electrons. An increased amount of captured stray radiation resulted in a reduced stability of operation. A single-stage depressed collector was used successfully, increasing the RF output efficiency from 20% to 29%     

High efficiency, phase-locked operation of the harmonic-multiplyinginverted gyrotwystron oscillator

The inverted gyrotwystron (phigtron) is a millimeter wave frequency-doubling amplifier that has been demonstrated to produce over 300 kW peak power at twice the input frequency (centered at f_in =16.85 GHz and f_out=33.7 GHz) over a 0.5% bandwidth with a saturated gain of 30 dB and efficiency greater than 35%. The device has also been studied both theoretically and experimentally in a different operating regime where frequency-doubled, phase-locked oscillation is possible. A signal, injected via a fundamental gyro-traveling wave tube input section, modulated a 55 kV, 10 A electron beam. After transit through a drift section, the prebunched electron beam produced phase-locked, second harmonic oscillations in a TE₀₃ mode output cavity. RF output centered at either of two frequencies, 34.42 and 34.62 GHz, with a maximum output power of 180 kW, an efficiency of 32% and a locked signal gain of 35 dB was measured. A theoretical prediction of locking bandwidth, a design overview, and the experimental results are presented followed by a summary and discussion of the results     

Experimental study of a plasma-filled backward wave oscillator

Experimental studies of a plasma-filled X-band backward-wave oscillator (BWO) are presented. Depending on the background gas pressure, microwave frequency upshifts of up to 1 GHz appeared along with an enhancement by a factor of 7 in the total microwave power emission. The bandwidth of the microwave emission increased from ⩽0.5 GHz to 2 GHz when the BWO was working at the RF power enhancement pressure region. The RF power enhancement appeared over a much wider pressure range in a high beam current case (10-100 mT for 3 kA) than in a lower beam case (80-115 mT for 1.6 kA). The plasma-filled BWO has higher power output than the vacuum BWO over a broader region of magnetic guide field strength. Trivelpiece-Gould modes (T-G modes) are observed with frequencies up to the background plasma frequency in a plasma-filled BWO. Mode competition between the T-G modes and the X-band Tm₀₁ mode prevailed when the background plasma density was below 6×10¹¹ cm^-3 . At a critical background plasma density of ≃8×10¹¹ cm^-3 power enhancement appeared in both X-band and the T-G modes. Power enhancement of the S-band in this mode collaboration region reached up to 8 dB. Electric fields measured by the Stark-effect method were as high as 34 kV/cm while the BWO power level was 80 MW. These electric fields lasted throughout the high-power microwave pulse     

High-power X-band amplification from an overmodedthree-cavity gyroklystron with a tunable penultimate cavity

Experimental results for a 10 GHz TE₀₁ mode three-cavity gyroklystron with a tunable penultimate cavity are presented. The electron beam was produced by a pulse line modulator and a magnetron injection gun which operates to 433 kV and 225 A with 1 μs flat-top. Three-cavity circuits have produced a peak power of 27 MW with efficiency of 32% and pulse energy of 39 J. A maximum gain of 50 dB was achieved at a peak power of 20 MW, and a maximum efficiency of 37% was achieved at a peak power of 16 MW     

165 GHz, 1.5 MW-coaxial cavity gyrotron with depressed collector

A further step in the development of a coaxial-cavity gyrotron operated in the transverse electric TE_-31,17 mode at 165 GHz is presented. The gyrotron has been equipped with a quasi-optical output system consisting of a Vlasov launcher with a single cut and two mirrors, one with a quasi-elliptic and the other with a nonquadratic phase correcting surface. The radio frequency (RF) power is transmitted through a single output window. A maximum output power of 1.7 MW has been achieved. At the nominal operational parameters an RF power of 1.3 MW with an efficiency of 27.3% has been measured. The efficiency increases to 41% in operation with a single-stage depressed collector     

射频离子源束流特性分析

介绍了为HL-2A 装置设计的引出束功率为1MW 的射频离子源研制情况。目前,在测试平台上,该离子源已经成功引出了束能量和束电流分别为35keV 和12.4A、束质子比为79%、脉宽为100ms 的氢离子束,达到了其设计束功率的44%。用红外热成像的方法测量了离子束能量密度分布。结果表明,在距离引出系统地电极 1.3m 处,束密度分布遵循高斯分布。引出束的最佳导流系数为1.689×10^–6A•V^-3/2 左右,随射频功率改变有较小的变化。根据这些实验结果,采取了相关改进措施来改善离子源的引出束性能。     

140-GHz gyrotron with multimegawatt output power

The operational features of a 140-GHz, transverse electric TE_22,6 mode gyrotron oscillator with an advanced quasi-optical mode converter, a Brewster window, and a single-stage depressed collector at 140 GHz with an output power of 2.1 MW and an efficiency of 34% without depressed collector and 53% with depressed collector are presented. The high output power level is possible due to an almost reflectionless termination of the radio frequency (RF) beam line outside the tube. The operation of the TE_22,6 mode gyrotron is described in detail, and the significant features for achieving the high-output power are pointed out     

A 1.5-MW, 140-GHz, TE28,16-coaxial cavity gyrotron

The design of a 1.5-MW, 140-GHz, TE-_28,16-coaxial cavity gyrotron is presented and results of experimental operation are given. A cavity with a cylindrical outer wall and a radially tapered inner rod with longitudinal corrugations was used. A maximum output power of 1.17 MW has been measured in the design mode with an efficiency of 27.2%. Single-mode operation has been found over a wide range of operating parameters. The experimental values agree well with the results of multimode calculations. Frequency-step tuning has been performed between 115.6 and 164.2 GHz. In particular, an output power of 0.9 MW has ben measured in the TE_25,14 mode at 123.0 GHz and 1.16 MW in the TE_32,18 mode at 158.9 GHz. At frequencies its with strong window reflections the parameter range for which stable operation is possible is reduced significantly. In order to obtain results relevant for a technical realization of a continuously operated gyrotron, a tube with a radial radio frequency (RF)-beam output through two output windows and a single-stage depressed collector has been designed and is under fabrication. A two-step mode conversion scheme-TE- _28,16 to Te_+76.2 to TEM₀₀-which generates two narrowly directed (60° at the launcher) output wavebeams has been chosen for a quasioptical (q,o) mode converter system. A conversion efficiency of 94% is expected     

Wave dispersion, growth rates, and mode converter analysis for asheet beam, hybrid-mode Cerenkov amplifier

The hybrid-mode dispersion relation and resonant growth rates are solved for a finite-thickness sheet electron beam propagating through a rectangular guide with a thin dielectric slab. Analytic results for the growth rates, bandwidth and mode competition for an infinite magnetic field in the limit of a dilute beam are then presented. To properly couple to the desired EH₁₀ hybrid amplifier slow wave mode, the coupled waveguide mode equations are solved for a dielectric taper to accomplish the TE₁₀ to EH₁₀ mode transition. A piecewide linear taper which suppresses the competing EH₁₁ mode and other hybrid modes is developed and the overall amplifier system is discussed     

Operation of repetitively pulsed virtual cathode oscillators on theTEMPO pulser

The design and performance characteristics of two virtual cathode oscillators operated at a 1-Hz repetition rate for a 10-shot burst using the TEMPO pulser are presented. The 2.4-GHz hardware generated a 300 MW per pulse (radiated) in the TM₀₂ mode with a 1.3% total energy conversion efficiency and with a 10.5% frequency bandwidth. A 2:1 scale-tip of this hardware was used to achieve an 840-MHz operation, but it only radiated 70 MW per pulse in the TM₀₁ mode with a 7.3% bandwidth, since hardware constraints prevented the TM₀₂ component from being radiated. The relatively low beam current density of the TEMPO VCOs yielded a low diode gap closure rate that should make them suitable for long-pulse operation. In addition, the low beam current density minimized damage to the thin anode screen     

Performance and pulse shortening effects in a 200-kVPASOTRONTM HPM source

The PASOTRON^TM is a unique, high-power microwave source that uses a long-pulse (⩽100 μs) plasma-cathode electron-gun and plasma-filled slow-wave structure (SWS) to produce high-energy microwave pulses. The device utilizes no externally-produced magnetic fields; relying on a beam-generated plasma channel in the SWS to transport the beam. Peak powers of up to 5 MW were previously reported in C-band using a rippled-wall waveguide SWS. Scaling experiments indicated that increasing the beam voltage above the 90 kV C-band operation produces significantly higher peak powers. We report results from an L-band PASOTRON^TM BWO designed to operate at 200 kV. The plasma-cathode E-gun built for this device generated beams with voltages of up to 225 kV and currents in excess of 1 kA for pulse lengths of up to 200 μs. The L-band PASOTRON^TM BWO produced 10-20 MW of peak power in the TM₀₁ mode, which was converted in the output to a TE₁₁ mode with fixed polarization. The PASOTRON ^TM also directly produced TE-mode radiation in the 5-10 MW power range with a rotating output polarization, the rate of which can be controlled externally. The peak power and poise width was limited by the stability of the plasma channel at high peak powers and excessive plasma generation in the SWS during the long pulse length     

Design and experimental operation of a 165-GHz, 1.5-MW,coaxial-cavity gyrotron with axial RF output

The development of a coaxial-cavity gyrotron operating in TE_31,17 mode at 165 GHz is presented. The selection of the operating frequency and mode are based on the limitations imposed by the maximum held of the superconducting (sc) magnet at Forschungzentrum Karlsruhe, Institut fur Technische Physik (FZK), the use of the inverse-magnetron injection gun (IMIG) of the 140-GHz, TE_28,16 coaxial gyrotron and the possibility of transforming the cavity mode to a whispering gallery mode (WGM) appropriate for the dual-beam quasioptical (q.o.) output coupler and the two output windows, which are foreseen for the next lateral output version of the tube. The tube with axial output has been tested at FZK to deliver maximum output power of 1.17 MW in the designed TE_31,17 mode with 26.7% efficiency at 164.98 GHz. Maximum efficiency of 28.2% was achieved at 0.9-MW output power. The design operating point with output power 1.36 MW and 36.7% efficiency was net accessible because of beam instabilities at high electron-velocity ratio α, presumably caused due to high electron-velocity spread. Power at higher frequencies was also detected: 1.02 MW at 167.16 GHz in TE_32,17 mode with 26.88 efficiency, 0.63 MW at 169.46 GHz in TE_33,17 mode with 18% efficiency, and 0.35 MW at 171.80 GHz in TE_31,17 mode with 13.3% efficiency     

Polarization control of microwave emission from high powerrectangular cross-section gyrotron devices

Results are summarized of experiments on a gyrotron utilizing a rectangular-cross-section (RCS) cavity region. The major issue under investigation is polarization control of microwave emission as a function of magnetic field. The electron beam driver is the Michigan Electron Long Beam Accelerator (MELBA) at parameters: V=0.8 MV, I_diode=1-10 kA, I_tube=0.1=0.5 kA, and t_e-beam=0.4-1.0 μs. The annular e-beam is spun up into an axis-encircling beam by passing it through a magnetic cusp prior to entering the RCS interaction cavity. Experimental results show a high degree of polarization in either of two orthogonal modes as a function of cavity fields. The RCS gyrotron produced peak powers of 14 MW in one polarization (TE₁₀) and 6 MW in the cross-polarized mode (TE ₀₁). Electronic efficiencies for this device reached as high as 8% with transverse efficiency of 16%. Experimental results on the beam alpha (α=V_⊥/V_∥) diagnostics, where alpha is the ratio of the e-beam's transverse velocity to its parallel velocity, agree well with the single electron trajectory code. MAGIC code results are in qualitative agreement with microwave measurements. Microwave emission shifts from the dominant fundamental mode polarization (TE₁₀□ ), to the next higher order mode polarization (TE₀₁□) as the solenoid magnetic field is raised from 1.4-1.9 kGauss. Frequency measurements using heterodyne mixers support mode identification as well as MAGIC code simulations     

Design of high-average-power near-millimeter free electron laseroscillators using short period wigglers and sheet electron beams

The design and feasibility of a 1-MW continuous-wave (CW) free electron laser (FEL) oscillator are reviewed. The proposed configuration includes a short-period (I_w~ 1 cm) planar wiggler, a sheet electron beam, a 0.5-1.0-MV thermionic electron gun, a hybrid waveguide/quasi-optical resonator, commercial DC power supplies, and a depressed collector. Cavity ohmic RF losses are estimated to be extremely low (⩽10-100 W/cm²) at 1/MW output power, while thermal heat transfer studies conservatively indicate that wall cooling up to 1500 W/cm² should be possible. Experiments have convincingly verified theory and simulations which predict that negligible body currents will be achievable with low-emittance low-space-charge sheet beams. High-voltage sheet beam gun design studies indicate that the required beam quality can be achieved with CW compatible devices. The spent beam energy distribution is consistent with highly efficient spent beam energy recovery, and the proposed resonator cavity should provide mode discrimination and beam/RF separation capability     

过模返波管的正反馈机制

作为一个典型的高功率微波振荡器,过模返波管(backward wave oscillator,BWO)的束波互作用过程复杂,束流负载效应影响明显,但是作为振荡器本身,其本质就是一个正反馈电路,电子从阴极发射后,穿过谐振反射腔和慢波结构(slow-wave structure,SWS),在SWS区电子动能转化为微波能,其中的一部分微波反馈到谐振反射腔,实现对电子束的调制,其他微波通过后面输出端口向外辐射.本文根据这种正反馈机制,建立器件工作模式等效电路和束波互作用的自洽过程,从理论上给出正反馈机制对器件模式控制、起振电流等参数的影响,并模拟研究了这种反馈机制对模式控制的影响,由此设计了一个能够在(1 MV,20 kA)电子束条件下克服模式竞争的过模BWO,其微波输出功率为7.9 GW,频率为8.68 GHz,相应的效率为39.5%.