Experimental studies of a four-cavity, 35 GHz gyroklystron amplifier

Summary form only given. At the Naval Research Laboratory gyroklystron amplifiers are being investigated as high power sources for the next generation of millimeter wave radars. A four-cavity, 35 GHz gyroklystron amplifier experiment has recently demonstrated a peak output power of 203 kW at 34.90 GHz, with a -3 dB bandwidth of 0.6%, a saturated gain of 52.5 dB and an electronic efficiency of 30%. These values were obtained in the TE01 mode with a beam voltage of 70 kV, a beam current of 9.8 A and a pulse width of 2 /spl mu/s. The nominal magnetic field for these results was 13.08 kG. Recent experimental results, along with comparisons to theory, will be presented which show that variations in magnetic field and voltage affect the trade-offs between power, bandwidth and efficiency. Future experiments will investigate gyro-devices with broader bandwidth capabilities and these design studies will be discussed.