High-Average-Power W-band TWT Development

Author

Theiss, Alan J. ; Meadows, Clark J. ; Freeman, Ray ; True, Richard B. ; Martin, J. Michael ; Montgomery, Keith L.

Author_Institution

L-3 Commun. Electron Devices, San Carlos, CA, USA

Volume

38

Issue

6

fYear

2010

fDate

6/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1239

Lastpage

1243

Abstract

A PPM-focused TWT for airborne applications producing over 400 W of peak RF output power at 90.6 GHz and average-power levels between 150 and 180 W is described. Design goals of 1% bandwidth, 250 W of peak power, and 30 dB of gain have all been met despite the invariable fabrication errors in this nascent type of tube. The TWT utilizes a novel integral-pole-piece ferruleless-coupled-cavity-class folded-waveguide circuit that features thick iron pole pieces with hollowed out centers, and a gridded gun for fast beam modulation. This thermally robust circuit plus the tetrode gun represent two key enabling technologies for compact high-average-power TWTs in W-band.

Keywords

millimetre wave integrated circuits; travelling wave tubes; PPM-focused TWT; RF output power; airborne applications; average-power levels; ferruleless-coupled-cavity-class folded-waveguide circuit; frequency 56 GHz to 100 GHz; high-average-power W-band TWT; integral-pole-piece folded-waveguide circuit; Electron guns; PPM focusing; TWTs; W-band RF; folded waveguides; slow-wave circuits;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2010.2041794

Filename

5427067