Wiggler enhanced cyclotron autoresonance maser amplifiers

Summary form only given. The performance of cyclotron autoresonance maser amplifiers can be significantly improved by using a properly spatially profiled helical wiggler. The enhancement process derives from the unique property of electron orbit in a combined solenoidal and wiggler field. A properly imposed wiggler gives rise to an electron orbit which acts to selectively inhibit autoresonance acceleration of electrons by the electromagnetic wave. The proposed configuration is able to alleviate the severe problem of performance degradation by beam velocity spread. Simulation results show that, by using a 500 kV and 200 A pencil beam, more than 20% output efficiency can still be attained at 94 GHz, even with 5% beam velocity spread. If higher output power is desired, both beam voltage and current could be increased. We will address the effects of beam AC space charge on the amplifier performance.