Development of a second cyclotron harmonic gyrotron operating at submillimeter wavelengths

Abstract

The development of a high-frequency, step-tunable gyrotron operating at submillimeter wavelengths is described. The gyrotron design was optimized for operation at the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency in the TE261 cavity mode, whose resonant frequency is 384 GHz. Experimental results show that second harmonic operation can occur without mode competition as long as the beam current is low (Ib ≲0.8 A), but as the current is increased, the fundamental TE231 cavity mode increases and eventually (Ib ≳1 A) suppresses the second harmonic. The competition between the two modes is studied in detail. The starting current for second harmonic operation is also studied experimentally and compared with calculated results. Other resonances have also been examined. With the present superconducting magnet, the maximum frequency achieved is 402 GHz (second harmonic operation in the TE551 cavity mode) at several kilowatts.