Analysis of a basic electron cyclotron maser model

Abstract

Abstract The electron cyclotron maser is a novel electromagnetic radiation mechanism employed in a new class of microwave devices called the gyrotron. In this expository paper, the electron cyclotron maser interaction is analyzed on the basis of a simple physical model. The purpose of the analysis is to quantitatively elucidate the details of the interaction processes, such as the electron bunching in the cyclotron phase space, the time scale of interest to the interation, the matching condition between the wave and cyclotron frequencies, and the parametric dependence of the electron energy loss rate.