Design and fabrication of a sub-millimeter multi-beam folded waveguide structure

摘要

A novel multi-beam folded waveguide(MBFW) circuit,which can enhance the output power and interaction efficiency of sub-terahertz(THz) traveling wave tube(TWT),is presented in the paper. Operating with fundamental mode and multiple electron beams means that a larger beam current can be used for a higher output power. The characteristics of the MBFW structure are analyzed and optimized. Compared with the single-beam folded waveguide(SBFW) TWT,the output power of the MBFW TWT increases from 3.64 W to 25.45 W at 140 GHz and its electronic efficiency increases from 1.06% to 7.4% under the conditions of an input peak power of 10 m W,a beam voltage of 9.55 k V and a current of 12 m A. The optimized MBFW structure can be successfully fabricated by micro milling,with dimension errors below expectation,and the measured transmission characteristics are in good agreement with the design.