Effect of a non-uniform annular electron beam on the microwave characteristics in a coaxial structure Ka-band RKA output cavity

Abstract

The influence of electron beam uniformity on the microwave characteristics of coaxial structure Ka-band RKA output cavity is investigated with particle-in-cell simulations. The electron beam non-uniformity is simulated in four different electron emission models: (1) continuous non-emission area, (2) spaced emission, (3) enhanced emission and (4) current density variation emission. The simulation results with the first emission model shows that the output power of Ka-band RKA decreases as the non-emission area increases, while the continuous non-emission area has little effect on the frequency and pulse width of Ka-band microwave; The simulation results with the second emission model shows that the output power of Ka-band RKA is related to the distribution of Z-component of electric field and excitation electric field strength in the beam–wave interaction gap. The more uniform the distribution of Z-component of electric field is, the greater the output power is. The stronger the excitation electric field is, the greater the output power is; The simulation results with the third emission model shows that the intense current density in local area will cause the reduction of output power. The higher the current density of the enhanced emission area is, the smaller the output power is; The simulation results with the fourth emission model shows that the fluctuation of current density during the steady-state phase will cause the fluctuation of microwave frequency and output power. The fluctuation amplitude of frequency and output power are positively related to the fluctuation amplitude of the current density. The larger the fluctuation amplitude of current density is, the greater the fluctuation amplitude of frequency and output power are. The faster the current density changes, the greater the fluctuation amplitude of frequency and output power are.