Experimental Results on a 1.5 MW, 110 GHz Gyrotron with a Smooth Mirror Mode Converter

Abstract

We present an internal mode converter (IMC) design for a 1.5 MW, 110 GHz gyrotron operating in the TE22,6 mode. The launcher, designed using the codes Surf3d and LOT, converts the cavity waveguide mode into a nearly pure Gaussian beam. The Gaussian beam output from the launcher is shaped by a series of 4 smooth, curved mirrors to provide a circular output beam with a flat phase front at the gyrotron window. By employing smooth mirrors rather than mirrors with phase correcting surfaces, such an IMC is less sensitive to alignment issues and can more reliably operate with high efficiency. The IMC performance was verified by both cold test and hot test experiments. Beam pattern measurements in each case were in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The output beam was of high quality with calculations showing that the Gaussian Beam content was 95.8 ± 0.5% in both hot and cold test.