Whispering Gallery X-Band Power Multiplier

72923S03-I The Next Linear Collider is set to operate at 11.424 GHz (X-band) with an unloaded acceleration gradient of 77 MeV/m and two acceleration lengths of 6 km each, for a center-of-mass energy of 0.5 TeV. The achievement of this goal will require the development of new high-power X-band components, including an efficient, compact RF pulse compressor to provide the required high peak RF power pulses to drive the accelerator modules. This project will design, build, and test a one- or two-cavity whispering gallery mode X-band RF power multiplier (WGPM) with the aim of providing the 600 MW power pulses needed to drive accelerator sections in a future linear collider. Phase I will optimize the WGPM design so that it can switch from energy storage to energy discharge by combining a 180¿ phase shift with frequency-modulation of the drive signal. A low-power version will be built and tested to verify aspects of the design. A preliminary engineering design will be developed for a WGPM, to be built and operated in Phase II, and capable of producing a 375 nsec output pulse of up to 600 MW at 11.424 GHz. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: A future multi-TeV collider would employ thousands of these X-band power multipliers, representing a possible future market of millions of dollars.