Joint University of Maryland-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research on Millimeter Wave Radiation from Rotating Electron Beams in Rippled Magnetic Fields. Progress Report

摘要

Research on the millimeter waves produced by rotating electron beams in rippled magnetic fields has been pursued under Department of Energy sponsorship since July 1, 1984. This research is being conducted as a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this regard, the University of Maryland is the prime contractor and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the subcontractor, although actual research responsibilities and expenditures are shared about equally between the two groups. The goals of this research program is to investigate the production of millimeter and submillimeter radiation by the interaction of a rotating electron beam with a rippled magnetic field. The device is most easily described as a circular geometry free electron laser (FEL), in which the rotating beam interacts with a periodic wiggler field produced by samarium cobalt magnets placed interior and exterior to the beam. The potential advantages of such a device include: (1) a more compact configuration than that of a linear FEL; (2) a continuous recirculation of the beam electrons through the wiggler field, thus providing a longer effective wiggler region; and (3) internal feedback resulting from the recirculation of the electromagnetic wave. This last feature may mean that the device can operate as an oscillator rather than an amplifier, as in the case of linear FEL's. (ERA citation 10:044877)