Investigation of the spectral characteristics of pulses of diffraction radiation

The physical phenomena which lead to distortions of the spectrum of diffraction radiation pulses are analyzed by means of theoretical estimates and experimental investigations. The experimental investigations were carried out for pulses of high-frequency oscillations with a duration of 0.15–10sec, excited in a diffraction radiation generator in the millimeter-wavelength range. The effect of steepness of the electron frequency retuning, the magnitude of the focusing magnetic field, and the pressure of the residual gases on the spectral characteristics of the instrument is established. The range of variation of the generator parameters is determined, where parasitic effects leading to distortions of the spectrum are expressed only slightly.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 21, No. 12, pp. 1853–1861, December, 1978.