Intermodulation products in a klystron

A general theory of intermodulation in klystron amplifiers is recently developed. The algorithm computes the intermodulation products (IMP) of all orders, including harmonic generation, at each gap in a multi-cavity klystron. It takes into account the combined effects of charge-overtaking and space charge force, though it neglects finite gap transit time effects. It has excellent accuracy and spectral resolution. We report the code validation against experiments, and the preliminary calculations of IMP with three drive signals. The latter is of considerable interest to JPL´s Deep Space Network, where simultaneous communication with three space probes orbiting Mars may be subject to intermodulation distortion.