Design and performance of RF bandpass electron bombarded semiconductor amplifiers

This paper describes the design and testing of developmental electron bombarded semiconductor devices as pulsed and CW RF bandpass amplifiers. In this configuration, the devices employ an accurately focused electron beam which is deflected in proportion to the input signal to control the current in the semiconductor target. The amplifiers operate in a Class-B RF mode. The electron beam of the desired shape and current density is achieved with a new laminar flow gun design. The beam is modulated by a traveling wave deflection structure suitable for operation over a very broad frequency range. An electron beam/deflection structure configuration suitable for operation from dc to over 4 GHz is described. Several types of traveling wave deflection structures have been evaluated and the results are briefly presented. The large-signal computer design of a semiconductor target for the bandpass amplifier is shown.