Detailed measurements showing the influence of the forward propagating wave and end reflections on the performance of relativistic backward wave oscillators

Book · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:170188

Moreland, L D; Schamiloglu, E ^[1]; Lemke, R W ^[2]; Roitman, A M ^[3]

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1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
2. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. Inst. of High Current Electronics, Tomsk (Russian Federation)

The primary energy exchange in a relativistic backward wave oscillator (BWO) occurs between the electron beam and the backward traveling wave within the slow wave structure (SWS). In most high power BWOs the backward traveling wave is reflected by a cutoff neck at the entrance of the SWS and radiation is extracted in the direction of the electron beam. Recently, researchers have investigated the effect of the forward traveling wave on the energy exchange between the electron bunches and the backward wave and the effect of multiple end reflections and cavity effects on the efficiency of microwave generation. This poster paper presents detailed measurements of the interaction of the electron beam with the forward traveling wave, and the effect of end reflections on the radiation frequency and efficiency. Numerical simulation results are found to be in agreement with the experimental measurements. These experiments suggest an enhanced frequency agility of high power BWOs by adjusting the phase of reflections within the SWS. A research program is underway to use control strategies to both optimize BWO performance and allow for enhanced frequency agility (100s of MHz) at moderate power levels (100s of MW).

• OSTI ID: 170188
• Report Number(s): CONF-950612--; ISBN 0-7803-2669-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
BACKWARD WAVE TUBES
CAVITY RESONATORS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE