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Resonant cavity operation of a virtual cathode oscillator

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6920358

Gigawatt level virtual cathode sources have been proposed for several applications. These include microwave weapons and drivers for high-energy particle accelerators. Both of these require a microwave source with very high power output that is controllable in frequency and phase. A conventional virtual cathode oscillator will not meet these requirements. The addition of a resonant cavity surrounding the oscillating virtual cathode either alone or pumped with a low-power injection signal, causing it to operate as an amplifier, could greatly influence the performance of this type of source making it more practical for accelerator and weapon 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:
6920358
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-86-3973; CONF-861240-5; ON: DE87003714
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English