Effect of the ion background on the spectral and amplitude characteristics of the output signal from the oscillator with the turbulent electron beam

The effect of the residual gas pressure on the spectral and amplitude characteristics of the output signal from the oscillator with the turbulent electron beam is examined. It is shown that ions resulting from gas ionization in the drift region promote formation of denser and more compact space charge bunches. Denser bunches increase the output signal power and aid in appearance of higher-order components in the spectrum, thus extending the working range to a higher-frequency region. When the device operates in the regime of noiselike signal generation, ions contribute to a decrease in the irregularity of the output power spectrum to about 0.3 dB in the working frequency range up to two octaves.