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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Experimental progress on virtual-cathode very high power microwave source development

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6360987

The evolution of rf accelerator technology toward high-power, high-current, low-emittance beams produces an ever-increasing demand for efficient, very high power microwave sources. The present klystron technology has performed very well but is not expected to produce reliable gigawatt peak-power units in the 1- to 10-GHz regime. Further major advancements must involve other types of sources. The reflexing electron sources can produce microwave powers at the gigawatt level and have demonstrated operation from 800 MHz to 40 GHz. Pulse length appears to be limited by electron-beam diode closure, and reflexing electron devices have been operated in a repetitively pulsed mode. An experiment is under way to investigate concepts to stabilize the frequency of the virtual cathode source. If one can successfully frequency and phase lock this source to an external signal, then this source can operate as a very high power microwave amplifier making it practical for accelerator applications. The progress on an experiment to test these concepts will be discussed.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
6360987
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-87-872; CONF-870302-135; ON: DE87008985
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English