Invesigation and optimization of the double-gap vircator in CST Particle Studio

One of the most important directions of research in the high power vacuum and plasma electronics is the study of the virtual cathode oscillators (vircators) which attract great attention of scientific community [1,2]. Microwave oscillators with virtual cathode (VC) are perspective devices of high-power microwave electronics for the generation of the wide-band microwave electromagnetic impulses due to their high output microwave radiation power, a simple construction (particularly, vircators can operate without external focusing magnetic field), a possibility of a simple frequency tuning and regime switching [1,2]. In spite of all vircator advantages the low efficiency is the principal weak point of this device. All these circumstances increase the fundamental and applied importance of studies of the nonlinear dynamics of vircators for the optimization of its generation characteristics.