AN INVESTIGATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLLECTIVE INTERACTION KLYSTRON

AN EXPERIMENTAL, THEORETICAL, AND NUMERICAL PROGRAM IS PLANNED TO DEVELOP AND STUDY A NOVEL, HIGH-POWER MICROWAVE SOURCE, THE COLLECTIVE INTERACTION KLYSTRON (CIK). THIS DEVICE PROMISES TO BE A HIGHLY EFFICIENT, COMPACT SOURCE IN THE 1- TO 10-GHZ RANGE, AND ALTERNATE CONFIGURATIONS THAT EXTEND THE OPERATION TO HIGHER FREQUENCIES ARE POSSIBLE. LINEAR THEORY PREDICTS VERY HIGH GROWTH RATES AND STRONG ELECTRON BUNCHING IN THE DEVICE, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO A CONVENTIONAL TWO-CAVITY KLYSTRON BUT WITH A CURVED DRIFT SPACE. ENHANCED BUNCHING CAUSED BY THE NEGATIVE MASS INSTABILITY OCCURS IN THE DRIFT REGION. AN INITIAL NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE DEVICE, WHICH EXHIBITS AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE FASTER BUNCHING THAN COULD BE ACHIEVED IN A LINEAR SYSTEM, HAS BEEN PERFORMED. WITH THE ELECTRON BEAM PARAMETERS CHOSEN (1 MEV, 2 KA), A TWO-CAVITY CIK SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF GW-LEVEL OPERATION AT AN EFFICIENCY OF 50%. IF THE OUTPUT CAVITY IS REPLACED WITH A QUASI-OPTICAL OPEN RESONATOR, THE DEVICE COULD POSSIBLY BE OPERATED AT SIGNIFICANTLY SHORTER WAVELENGTHS.