Generation of millimeter and sub-millimeter radiation in a compact oscillator utilizing the two-stream instability

Summary form only. We propose a novel technique to produce sub-millimeter radiation; this technique mingles two electron beams of slightly different energies. On their own, these beams will exhibit a two-stream instability. Proper initial modulation of the beams can control this instability, allowing such a device to act as an oscillator chosen radiation frequencies in the millimeter and sub-millimeter ranges. Simulations of this device show amplification of 100- GHz radiation, with convenient scaling up to 1 THz. Additionally, the experiment merely requires two low-voltage, low-current electron beams and straightforward beam and millimeter-wave optics; with a total beamline length of under meter. We predict this simple and compact device can generate up to 100 W of 1-THz radiation.