The gyrocon: A high-efficiency, high-power microwave amplifier

The gyrocon is a high-power, high-efficiency amplifier, which operates by deflection modulation of an electron beam. The bunching is better than that in a klystron, especially for very high powers and UHF frequencies, so the overall efficiency and the maximum output power can be higher than in a klystron. The present theory includes the effects of large signals, space charge, and finite beam size. The equations of motion are relativistically correct, but the space-charge fields are only correct to first order in v/c. The theory is derived and a computer code to solve these equations is discussed. Then the code is used to obtain radial gyrocon designs which have significant advantages over klystrons or gridded tubes in the 0.2-1.0- GHz frequency range. We briefly discuss other gyrocon types but, to date, we have not performed computational analyses for the spherical and planar gyrocons. The upper frequency limit may reach 3 GHz for these devices.