Recent improvements in injection locked magnetrons

CPI-Beverly Microwave Division has been engaged in a program to improve the performance of injection locked magnetrons used in a missile seeker application. The principal objectives of this program were: increasing magnetron reliability by decreasing power density inside the device; increasing device lifetime, and ruggedizing device for use in high vibration environments. The injection locked magnetron (ILM) pair developed produces over 800 W peak of coherent power at Ku-band. The average power is high at 100 W which leads to high power densities in this small device. The instantaneous locking bandwidth is around 0.7% for both magnetrons in the chain.