A ladder circuit especially useful in backward wave oscillators operating in the 500 GHz to 2000 GHz range has a waveguide with transversely orientated slabs which contact an upper wall of the waveguide. The edges of the slabs adjacent to the physical center of waveguide are curved segments and stubs of electrically conductive, nonmagnetic material. The ends of slabs include metal layers at opposite ends to provide a conductive leakage path. A ridge bar is attached to the inside of the bottom wall of the waveguide and includes a concave upper surface which partially straddles the electron beam. The novelty of the invention lies in the ladder structure compared of thin, vapor deposited rungs supported on the edge of diamond slabs; each rung having a curved segment which straddles the electron beam together with a ridge bar which also straddles the electron beam.
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