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Recent hot test details and inspiring results of the W-band lossy-dielectric-loaded gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-TWT) developed at the University Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) are reported in this letter. Measurement of the gyro-TWT had achieved a pulse output power over 100 kW with a broad bandwidth of 8.5 GHz (92.0~100.5 GHz). For the first time as we know, the W-band gyro-TWT can stably operate with a 10% duty cycle and the average output power is over 10.3 kW in the frequency range. Excellent stability, pure spectrum and mode patterns are all verified in the hot test experiment. [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]

A circular TE0n mode content analysis technique based on the multi-mode coupler with high mode selectivity is proposed. To improve the mode selectivity, a deformed waveguide, entitled the quad-polar waveguide, which discriminates the azimuthally symmetric TE-mode on the waveguide wall, is introduced. The influence of deformation on the TE01 and TE02 modes’ field pattern, the corresponding transmission loss, and the power capacity in the quad-polar waveguide are analyzed. Based on the analysis, a dual-mode coupler of the circular TE01 and TE02 modes, consisting of an oversized deformed circular waveguide coupler and a pair of circular-to-quad-polar waveguide transitions, is designed for a high-power Ka-band gyrotron traveling-wave tube system. To verify the high mode selectivity of a quad-polar waveguide, a simple coupling with equal-radius and equal-interval holes are used. A prototype is fabricated and measured, and the results show that the coupling coefficient is −40 dB with the directivity of 27 dB for the TE01 mode, suppressing the unwanted mode TE02 mode with 53 dB. For the TE02 mode, the coupling coefficient is −40 dB with the directivity of 25 dB and suppresses the unwanted mode TE01 mode with 75 dB from 30 to 40 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A periodic dielectric meta-surface output window was cold and hot tested to extend the operating bandwidth and suppress the parasitic oscillations for a W-band wideband TE01 mode gyrotron traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT) in this letter. The fabricated beryllium oxide meta-surface dielectric window demonstrates a relative bandwidth of 37.84% with the reflection below −20 dB in the range of 75–110 GHz. The influences of engineering factors and machining errors on the performance are investigated and analyzed. Thermal analysis shows the average power handling capability of the window is over 33 kW within a wide frequency range. Hot test results demonstrate that the meta-surface window is excellent for oscillation suppression and the power handling capability is predicted larger than 20 kW. [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]

Design and measurement of a broadband compact circular TE11 mode input coupler for gyrotron traveling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) are presented in this article. Different from the T-junction, Y-type, and multiple-hole input couplers, the proposed coupler has a merit of compact dimensions formed by the H-plane of a rectangular cavity. The simulation results show that the port reflection $S_{11}$ is less than −10 dB within 7.9–9.93 GHz. Also, the split transmissions $S_{21}$ and $S_{31}$ are over −3.4 dB in this band. It indicates that the relative bandwidth is 22.8%, and the transmission efficiency is higher than 90%. To further broaden the bandwidth, we propose an improved input coupler with ridges achieving an excellent bandwidth of 28.6%. The designed input coupler has been measured with open boundaries and matched output ports. The simulation and measurement results are in good agreement. The compact TE11 mode input coupler had been applied in our X-band gyro-TWT design. [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]

Mode converters for millimeter waves can reduce the transmission loss, generate the desired mode, and facilitate the application of high-power sources. A W-band broadband quasi-optical mode converter which converts a TE0,1 cylindrical waveguide mode into a linearly polarized Gaussian TEM00 mode has been realized and tested in this paper. The converter is composed of a wavefront transforming mirror, a polarization grating, and a phase correcting system. In order to obtain high conversion efficiency over a wide bandwidth and make the structure of the mode converter much simple and compact, the propagation path of the beam is optimized and a wavefront transforming mirror realized by an ellipsoidal mirror rather than a nonquadratic mirror is introduced. The conversion process in each section is displayed and the working principles are discussed in detail. The mode conversion characteristics are investigated by analyzing the measured radiation field pattern. Results of the measurement agree well with the numerical calculations. The proposed W-band mode converter has a conversion bandwidth of 21% when the mode conversion efficiency is over 95% and the cross polarization is below 1.7%. In addition to high conversion efficiency, low cross-polarization, and broad bandwidth, this converter features easy construction and compact structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

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]