Chaotic generation in a megawatt backward-wave tube

Experimental and theoretical studies on the self-modulation mode of generation in a high-power BWT with the electrodynamic system representing a slightly corrugated waveguide are presented. The BWT is fed by an electron beam with the energy 150 keV and the current 150 A. The system operates at the E ₀₁ mode with the mean frequency 8.7 GHz. Dynamic chaos is obtained by a three-fold increase in the length of the interaction space in comparison with the prototype exhibiting stationary generation. The stationary generation was changed to periodic sinusoidal self-modulation and then to chaotic self-modulation as the current increases from 6 to 60 A. The generation mode is simplified when the current ranges from 70 to 90 A and becomes complicated again for the current exceeding 100 A. Experimental observations are in good agreement with the results of simulation predicting a certain simplification of the self-modulation mode at the currents 70–90 A owing to the effect of high-frequency space charge. Under the conditions of chaotic generation, the mean power was as high as 2 MW at the relative spectral width of the signal 4% and the total duration of the microwave pulse 10 μs.