AN INVESTIGATION INTO DENSITY-WAVE PROPAGATION WITHIN HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING PLASMAS FOR USE IN CREATING TRAVELING-WAVE DEVICES

摘要

This paper theoretically investigates a novel appli-cation of high-temperature superconductors where the superconductor serves as the active component in a micro-wave or millimeter traveling-wave amplifier. A guided electromagnetic wave interacts with a dc superconducting electron current to set up charge-density gradients within the superconducting electron "plasma." The electromag-netic wave gradually extracts energy from the supercon-ducting electrons by traveling in phase synchronism with these charge gradients. The interaction mechanism is similar to that of a conventional traveling-wave tube amplifier or oscillator.