Search

Design techniques and experimental results are presented on a Ku-band TE11 mode gyro-traveling wave tube. The hot test of this amplifier gives more than 153-kW output power, 2.3-GHz bandwidth (14%), 41-dB saturated gain, and 20% efficiency driven by a 63 kV, 12-A electron beam with a pitch angle (vtvz) of 1.2, and velocity spread of 5%. A linear polarized TE11 mode input coupler is used to introduce the input power. The stability of the amplifier from oscillation, including both the operating TE11 mode and the backward wave TE21 mode, has been investigated with linear codes, nonlinear self-consistent theory, and 3-D PIC CHIPIC simulation. To suppress the potential gyro-backward wave oscillator interactions, the high frequency circuit is loaded with lossy ceramic rings. The lossy structure is optimized by nonlinear theory and 3-D PIC simulation. A low velocity spread magnetron injection gun is designed with a new structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed lossy dielectric is of considerable interest for high-power milli- and submillimeter radiation sources, particularly for gyrotron traveling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs). The analytical design and experiment of a Q-band gyro-TWT loaded with periodic lossy dielectric rings operating in the circular \TE01 mode at the fundamental cyclotron harmonic are presented. The gyro-TWT is driven by a 70-kV 10-A helical electron beam with a velocity ratio of 1.0. Hot test performs maximum peak output power of 152 kW, 41-dB saturated gain, and 21.7% efficiency at 47.6 GHz. The measured bandwidth over 100 kW is at the range of 47–49 GHz. PIC simulation and large-signal prediction show excellent agreements to the hot test results. The potential backward wave oscillation interactions involving the spurious modes \TE11, \TE21, and \TE02 are effectively suppressed by loading lossy dielectric rings periodically. The Q-band gyro-TWT is zero-drive stable at the operating points, which demonstrates that loading lossy dielectric is excellent to stabilize the spurious oscillations. Moreover, the designs of magnetron injection gun, interaction circuits, and input and output structures are also achieved to satisfy the requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A methodology to generate a circular TE13 mode for the operation of high-order mode (HOM) gyrotron-traveling-wave tubes is presented in this paper. A rectangular TE10 mode is efficiently converted into a circular TE13 mode using Y-type power dividers. Symmetric curved lossy dielectrics and dielectric rings are, respectively, positioned to suppress the potential coupling TE32 and TE71 modes according to their electric and magnetic field distribution properties. An HOM converter without dielectrics loaded was designed, constructed, and cold tested. Back-to-back transmission measurements exhibit good agreement with the results of computer simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overall design and cold test of a G-band gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-TWT) amplifier are presented. This gyro-TWT aims at achieving a goal of 10-kW pulse output power in the range of 210–220 GHz. It is operated in a circular TE01 mode at the fundamental cyclotron harmonics, which is driven by a 50-kV, 3-A gyrating electron beam. Low velocity spread diode-type magnetron injection gun (MIG), multichannel TE01 mode input coupler, broadband metasurface output window, and lossy material loaded beam–wave interaction circuit are simulated and partially measured. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation shows that the designed gyro-TWT can achieve a saturated output power over 10 kW in the range of 210–228 GHz with a beam velocity spread of 2.29%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of the output window reflection instability on the performance of our designed ${W}$ -band broadband gyrotron traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT) were studied by the simulation and hot test experiments. Strong oscillations and frequency self-modulation (FSM) in the after-cavity interaction (ACI) region were observed in the zero-driven state with a two-layer window and are verified with the beam-wave particle-in-cell simulation. Oscillations and FSM of 80–81.8 GHz and 91.03–94.68 GHz are, respectively, generated from the TE22 and TE02 modes in the ACI region due to the high window reflection level. By using the “sandwich” and meta-surface windows with low reflection and broad bandwidth, the parasitic ACI oscillations can be effectively suppressed. The maximum saturated output power is improved to 156.8 kW at 94 GHz and is zero-driven stable in our recent hot test experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gyrotron traveling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) are of considerable interest for high-power millimeter and submillimeter radiation sources. The analytical design and experiment of a W-band gyro-TWT loaded with nonuniform periodic lossy dielectric rings is presented in this paper. The gyro-TWT is operating in the circular TE01 mode at the fundamental cyclotron harmonic, and driven by a 60 kV, 8-A gyrating electron beam with velocity ratio 1.2. Hot test results were: 1) maximum peak output power 112 kW; 2) 69.7-dB saturated gain; and 3) 23.3% efficiency at 93.5 GHz. The measured bandwidth with peak power greater than 90 kW is about 4 GHz in the range of 93–97 GHz. The hot test results show excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction. The potential backward wave oscillations involving the spurious modes TE11, TE21, and TE02 are effectively suppressed by the nonuniformly loaded periodic lossy dielectric rings. The W-band gyro-TWT is zero-drive stable at the operating points. It demonstrates that a nonuniform loaded lossy dielectric structure is excellent for suppressing potential spurious oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A broadband dielectric window with high power handling capability for gyrotron traveling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) had been designed based on the step-type impedance transition structure. The manufactured beryllium oxide (BeO) window can achieve a relative bandwidth of 35.3% with a maximum reflection of −20 dB in the ${X}$ -band, and the corresponding transmission loss is over −0.1 dB. The resonant spikes caused by engineering factors, including assembly tilt and gap, are investigated and analyzed. Thermal analysis shows that the BeO window can achieve a high average/CW power handling capability of over 232 kW within a wide frequency range. The fabricated input window has been successfully applied in our ${X}$ -band broadband and high-power gyro-TWT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the design and experimental verification of a 200-kW Q-band gyrotron traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT) amplifier are presented. A low-velocity spread magnetic injection electron gun (MIG), a new type of multichannel TE01 mode input coupler, and a broadband double-disk output window are adopted in the design to improve the performance of the gyro-TWT. At the same time, the lossy ceramic ring-loaded high-frequency interaction circuit is constructed to provide the required loss for stable operation, and the potential oscillations are effectively suppressed. Saturated peak power of 208 kW and 12.5-kW average output power are measured at 47 GHz by hot test, corresponding to a saturated gain of 50.2 dB, an efficiency of 29.4%, and a −3-dB bandwidth of 5.5 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design and microwave measurement of a linearly polarized circular TE11 mode coupler are reported in this article. Based on our earlier designed input coupler with smooth wall, we proposed an improved structure with ridges loading resulting in a bandwidth up to 29.2%. Simulation results show the port reflection S11 less than −10 dB is in 7.9–10.6 GHz. And the split transmission S21 and S31are over −3.4 dB in this frequency range. According to the simulation results, the designed input coupler is fabricated and measured with the vector network analyzer. The measurement results show excellent performance, which is in good agreement with the simulation when the conductor loss is taken into consideration. In addition, an input coupler with a cutoff waveguide is designed to improve the efficiency of single-port transmission and the power utilization. Simulation results show the transmission efficiency of the single port achieves 91%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, converters of TE $^{\Box }_{{10}}$ –TE $^{\circ }_{{21}}$ mode and TE $^{\Box }_{{10}}$ –TE $^{\circ }_{{01}}$ mode with similar exciting topologic structures are designed and verified for a cold test of gyro-TWT. Both the proposed converters are composed of three sections, including TE $^{\Box }_{{10}}$ to TE $^{\Box }_{{20}}$ mode converter with ridged twist waveguide, TE $^{\Box }_{{20}}$ to TE+22 mode converter with variable cross-shaped waveguide, and the last section TE+22 to TE $^{\circ }_{{21}}$ or TE $^{\circ }_{{01}}$ mode converter ($^{\Box }$ represents the rectangular waveguide, + represents the cross-shaped waveguide, and ° represents the circular waveguide). The mode converters can be designed step-by-step and exhibit excellent wideband performance and high conversion efficiency. Simulation results reveal that the proposed TE $^{\circ }_{{21}}$ mode and TE $^{\circ }_{{01}}$ mode converters have less than 0.04 and 0.03 dB loss over 13.5- and 12-GHz bandwidths, respectively, while the return loss is below −25 dB. Prototype TE $^{\circ }_{{21}}$ and TE $^{\circ }_{{01}}$ mode converters were fabricated and back-to-back millimeter-wave measurements were performed to verify the design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of highly efficient gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-TWT) with a nonuniform dielectric-loaded interaction circuit. The high-quality electron beam has been generated by curved-profile magnetron injection gun (MIG). With regard to the profile optimization, simulated annealing algorithm (SAA) and genetic algorithm (GA) are applied. An electron beam with a pitch factor of 1.6 and low-axial velocity spread of 0.9182% have been obtained. The parametric sensitivity is discussed in detail. A nonuniform dielectric-loaded circuit has been employed to suppress both global oscillations and local oscillations. Different thicknesses of dielectric materials have been manufactured and measured, demonstrating the circuit loss of oscillation modes that are enough for stable operation. The interaction circuit is analyzed under the guidance of nonlinear self-consistent theory and particle-in-cell (PIC) codes. The tube achieves a saturated peak output power of 36.24 kW at 93 GHz, corresponding to a saturated gain of 54 dB and a maximum efficiency of 45.3% within a 3-dB saturated bandwidth of 5 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high power Ku-band TE01 mode gyrotron traveling wave tube amplifier (gyro-TWT) is designed and experimented in this paper. The emphasis is put on the gyro-TWT with a high average power. In the design process, a low average velocity spread magnetron injection electron gun and a wideband multichannel TE01 mode input coupler are adopted. At the same time, a high average power curved collector is also applied. To suppress the potential gyro-backward wave oscillator interactions, a new type lossy ceramic rings and lossy ceramic pieces hybrid loaded structure is used in the high-frequency interaction circuit of gyro-TWT. In hot test, the developed Ku-band TE01 mode gyro-TWT is driven by a 70-kV 23-A helical electron beam and produce a ~31.5 kW maximum saturated output average power at 16.2 GHz, corresponding to a saturated peak power of ~450 kW (7% duty ratio), a saturated gain of ~40.5 dB, an efficiency of ~28%. The measured 3-dB bandwidth is ~2.1 GHz. The gyro-TWT is found to be zero-drive stable at these operating points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new topology to excite the HE04 mode in wide bandwidth for confocal gyro-TWAs is presented. The mode exciter consists of a TE04 mode exciter and a TE04–HE04 transition waveguide section formed by two cascaded one-stage tapers. In addition, the closed-to-open confocal waveguide boundaries are studied. Numerical results show that the port reflection of the whole structure is well below −10 dB over 90–110 GHz; the transmission of HE04 mode is better than −1 dB over 94–107 GHz. Even more important, a maximum transmission variation of less than ±0.15 dB over the 1-dB bandwidth and a mode purity of better than 97.2% over the 3-dB bandwidth are achieved. The mode exciter is compact and easy to be fabricated, which can be applied to cold-test experiments of confocal gyro-amplifiers circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and experiment of a high power and broadband Ku-band gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-TWT) amplifier operating in the TE11 mode are presented in this paper. A new-type broadband rotating TE11 mode input coupler is applied to excite operating mode and a broadband three-disk beryllium oxide ceramic output window is used in the designed gyro-TWT. In order to suppress the potential oscillations, expand working bandwidth, and improve the heat dissipation capability of high frequency system, a periodic beryllium oxide and silicon carbide composite lossy ceramic rings loaded high-frequency circuit with a nonlinear small change output taper is adopted in the gyro-TWT. When the beam voltage is 70 kV and the beam current is 12 A, the experiment of this Ku-band gyro-TWT developed shows that the measured maximum output average power is ~20 kW at the frequency 16 GHz, corresponding to a maximum output pulse power of ~200 kW (10% duty ratio), a gain of 43.0 dB and a maximum efficiency of 23.8%, −3-dB saturation gain bandwidth of 2.6 GHz (~16.3%), and −1-dB saturation gain bandwidth of 1.5 GHz (~9.4%). Under the condition of 10-W constant input power driven, the measured −3-dB constant driven bandwidth is 1.4 GHz (~8.8%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design and simulation of a broadband Ka-band gyrotron traveling-wave tube operating in the $\text {TE}^{d}_{\text {02}}$ mode at the fundamental cyclotron harmonic with a fully dielectric-loaded circuit. Through loading loss-free dielectric on the entire circuit, the dispersion properties of the circuit are changed to maintain resonance condition at a wide frequency band. A sliced lossy dielectric-loaded structure is employed to provide the required loss for stable operation. The interaction circuit is analyzed under the field matching theory, the nonlinear self-consistent theory, and particle-in-cell codes. A saturated peak output power of 100 kW is achieved at 29 GHz, corresponding to a saturated gain of 44 dB and an efficiency of more than 15% within a 3-dB saturated bandwidth of 6.1 GHz (20% relative bandwidth). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accurately measure the performance of dielectric loaded circuits for gyrotron traveling wave tubes, a novel topological structure to generate the TE21○ or TE01○ (superscript represents circular waveguide) mode is proposed and verified in this paper. The topology is constituted by an overmoded TE10□ to TE20□ (superscript represents rectangular waveguide) mode converter with multiple matching steps and a taper from TE20□ to TE21○ or TE01○ mode. This topology allows the TE21○ or TE01○ mode to be excited by changing the taper dimensions. Simulation results reveal that the TE21○ and TE01○ mode converters, respectively, have a 1-dB bandwidth of 12.8 and 9.3 GHz with an excellent performance. Converters for the back-to-back millimeter-wave measurements were fabricated with computerized numerical control and wire cutting techniques. Vector network analyzer measurements are in good agreement with the simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new type of input/output coupler for sheet beam traveling wave tube is designed, analyzed, and measured in this paper. In the design, a special sloped coupling aperture distributed between two paralleled rectangular waveguides in H -plane is employed for compact dimensions, ease of fabrication, attainment of high power capacity, and more convenience for periodic cusped magnet focusing system. A nonlinear-curve profile with Chebyshev-curve distribution is applied to extend the operating frequency bandwidth while suppressing reflections to avoid generating oscillation in the slow-wave structure. Based on the analytical investigation and numerical simulation, an optimized sloping angle of the coupling aperture is obtained to improved performance. Simulations imply that the coupler achieves a broadband bandwidth ( S11< -20 dB) of 23 and 10 GHz in $W$ - and $Q$ -band, respectively, with coupling coefficient above −0.2 dB. Cold test results satisfactorily agree with simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper a methodology to excite a circular high-order TE13-mode via a rectangular TE50 mode was proposed and verified by the millimeter wave measurement. This topology can also be applied to launch other high-order modes (HOMs) such as TE 1n , TE 2n^\prime and TE 0n^\prime (n or n^\prime =1 , 2, 3) modes via different transition rectangular TE _{m0} ( m = 2n-1$ or $m = 2n^\prime $ ) modes, which can be achieved by adjusting the number of coupling apertures and optimizing dimensions of tapered waveguides. A W-band TE13 mode converter was designed and analyzed. Two identical converters connected back to back as a proof-of-principle operating at $Q$ -band were fabricated and measured. Good performance was observed, which was in good agreement with the simulation results. This HOM converter has many potential applications in areas such as gyro-devices, high-power transmission lines, RF multimode systems of accelerators, microwave/plasma, and antenna systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Novel compact input and output couplers for broadband operation of sheet beam traveling wave tubes are analyzed, designed, and cold tested. Multistage stepped waveguide and cascaded Bragg resonators are proposed and applied to improve the performance and extend the operating bandwidth. Optimized curve-Bragg resonators are studied to correct the phase between the reflector and $H$ -bend waveguide, which bring about a further enhancement of the coupler behavior. HFSS simulations predict a −3 dB transmission bandwidth about 38% and 34% are achieved, respectively, in Ku and $Q$ band. Besides, the large beam tunnel property of this kind of coupler benefit the beam transport of sheet beam devices. Different components as the input and output couplers for Ku- and $Q$ -band SB-TWT are manufactured and cold tested. Results of vector network analyzer measurement and simulation present an excellent agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wider bandwidth property of traveling-wave tubes (TWTs) is continuously pursued to satisfy the increased data rates and multiple channels in modern communications. In this paper, the coalesced-mode operation instead of the general single-mode operation for the double staggered grating waveguide (DSGW) slow-wave structure (SWS) is proposed to achieve an ultrawideband property of the TWTs driven by sheet electron beam. Analytical results of the high-frequency properties for the SWS, including the dispersion characteristics, interaction impedance, and transmission property, demonstrate that the coalesced-mode operation for the DSGW is possible. A novel loading approach of the attenuator with good performance, and meanwhile, a compact configuration is proposed to suppress the potential oscillations, thus leading to a steady beam–wave interaction for the coalesced-mode operation. To verify the concept of coalesced-mode operation, particle-in-cell simulation is performed. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimized RF circuit indeed can steadily operate in coalesced mode and produce over 5-kW saturated output power ( $\sim 10$ % efficiency) in a very broad frequency ranging from 37 to 52 GHz, corresponding to a relative bandwidth of 33.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]