Operation of a stable 200-kW second-harmonic gyro-TWT amplifier

The experimental results are reported for a stable second-harmonic gyrotron traveling wave amplifier, which generated a record-breaking 207-kW output power based on the principle that the weaker harmonic interactions are more stable to spontaneous oscillations than at the fundamental, and therefore, capable of generating higher output power. The high-power amplifier was kept completely (zero-drive) stable by employing a mode-selective interaction circuit and web-matched directional input and output couplers, and choosing an amplifier interaction length shorter than the start-oscillation length for gyrotron backward-wave oscillations. The single-stage Ku-band amplifier utilized an 80-kV 20-A υ_⊥/υ_||=1.1 electron beam from a magnetron injection gun and yielded an efficiency of 12.9%, an output phase variation of 10°/kV, a saturated bandwidth of 2.1%, a large-signal gain of 16 dB, and a detuned small-signal gain of 38 dB