Passive mode control in the recirculating planar magnetron
Abstract
Preliminary experiments of the recirculating planar magnetron microwave source have demonstrated that the device oscillates but is susceptible to intense mode competition due, in part, to poor coupling of RF fields between the two planar oscillators. A novel method of improving the cross-oscillator coupling has been simulated in the periodically slotted mode control cathode (MCC). The MCC, as opposed to a solid conductor, is designed to electromagnetically couple both planar oscillators by allowing for the propagation of RF fields and electrons through resonantly tuned gaps in the cathode. Using the MCC, a 12-cavity anode block with a simulated 1 GHz and 0.26 c phase velocity (where c is the speed of light) was able to achieve in-phase oscillations between the two sides of the device in as little as 30 ns. An analytic study of the modified resonant structure predicts the MCC's ability to direct the RF fields to provide tunable mode separation in the recirculating planar magnetron. The self-consistent solution is presented for both the degenerate even (in phase) and odd (180° out of phase) modes that exist due to the twofold symmetry of the planar magnetrons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4794967
Entities
People
- Brad Hoff
- Geoff Greening
- Matthew Franzi
- Peng Zhang
- Ronald Gilgenbach
- Y. Y. Lau
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- University of Michigan