Demonstration of a 600 kW Multiple-Beam Klystron Amplifier: A First-Pass Design Success
Abstract
Multiple-beam klystrons (MBKs) are a class of vacuum electronic amplifiers, in which the kinetic energy of axially streaming electron beams is converted to electromagnetic energy through the interaction of the beams with a series of resonant microwave cavities. With their potential to efficiently produce coherent, broadband, high-power microwave radiation in a compact package, MBKs are a promising device technology to provide the low-noise transmitter performance required by shipboard radar systems to operate in high-clutter environments (e.g., littoral zones) and to keep pace with evolving antiship cruise missile (ASCM) and tactical ballistic missile (TBM) threats. Nondefense applications of this technology include civilian radar, communications, and accelerators for high-energy physics. As the name implies, MBKs make use of multiple electron beamlets, each of which propagates in a separate, parallel beam tunnel, but interact with electric fields in common regions such as cavity gaps. In this manner, the perveance of the individual beamlets can be low, facilitating stable-beam propagation and efficient beam-wave interaction without the adverse space-charge effects that could debunch the beam, while the total beam current can be high, facilitating high-power and broad-bandwidth operation. In addition, MBKs possess a number of advantages over conventional single-beam klystrons of comparable power, including reduced operating voltages (typically 50% to 80%) which leads to shorter circuit lengths (typically 30% to 60%) and significantly lower weight. Furthermore, MBKs possess the low phase noise performance that is desirable for radar and communication applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA522659
Entities
People
- B. Levush
- D. E. Pershing
- David K. Abe
- E. L. Eisen
- F. N. Wood
- Kimberly T. Nguyen
- M. Cusick
- R. E. Myers
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory