Corrugated waveguide and directional coupler for CW 250-GHz gyrotron DNP experiments

A 250-GHz corrugated transmission line with a directional coupler for forward and backward power monitoring has been constructed and tested for use with a 25-W continuous-wave gyrotron for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments. The main corrugated line (22-mm internal diameter, 2.4-m long) connects the gyrotron output to the DNP probe input. The directional coupler, inserted approximately midway, is a four-port crossed waveguide beamsplitter design. Two beamsplitters, a quartz plate and ten-wire array, were tested with output coupling of 2.5% (-16dB) at 250.6 GHz and 1.6% (-18dB), respectively. A pair of mirrors in the DNP probe transferred the gyrotron beam from the 22-mm waveguide to an 8-mm helically corrugated waveguide for transmission through the final 0.58-m distance inside the NMR magnet to the sample. The transmission-line components were all cold tested with a 248±4-GHz radiometer. A total insertion loss of 0.8 dB was achieved for HE₁₁-mode propagation from the gyrotron to the sample with only 1% insertion loss for the 22-mm-diameter waveguide. A clean Gaussian gyrotron beam at the waveguide output and reliable forward power monitoring were achieved for many hours of continuous operation.