TRAVELING WAVE TUBE WITH PLANAR EQUIANGULAR SPIRAL SLOW WAVE CIRCUIT

摘要

This invention concerns a more compact, lower-cost, lower-voltage, broader-band, traveling wave amplifier that has a cylindrical electron gun between closely spaced, parallel, flat surfaces of a pair of ceramic disks and a ring collector joined to the disks concentric with the electron gun. At least one of the flat surfaces has a printed slow wave circuit in the form of at least one tightly wound equiangular spiral arm between the electron gun and the collector. Though a high power amplifier needs focusing means, a small amplifier made according to the invention for operation at low power needs no electron beam focusing between electron gun and collector. The invention can be combined with a phased array to serve as an amplifier in place on the array; one such amplifier is provided for each radiator element. The invention can serve as amplifier and radiator by designing the spiral arm for radiation.