Nonlinear investigation of beam-wave interaction in double-groove loaded folded-waveguide traveling-wave tube

A W-band traveling-wave tube (TWT) with double-groove loaded folded waveguide structure (FWSWS) has been designed and numerically modelled. The nonlinear performance of such a TWT is investigated by a particle-in-cell code MAGIC3D. Simulation results indicate this TWT produces a saturated electromagnetic power of 170.2 W at 90 GHz, corresponding to 36.9 dB gain and 69.6 mm interaction distance. A comparison between the novel folded waveguide traveling-wave tube (FWTWT) and the conventional one is also carried out to verify the effect of groove loading on the large-signal performance of TWT. Within the same working conditions, the double groove-loaded FWTWT could obtain higher saturated output power and gain in a shorter interaction length. The maximum of output power and gain of this novel TWT is 58.6% and 10% higher than those of the conventional FWTWT, while the 3-dB bandwidth of TWT is reduced to 4 GHz. With the additional advantage of ease of fabrication based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies, the double-groove loaded FWSWS is suitable for a millimeter-wave TWT with high power capacity and gain.