Generation of subnanosecond 10-GHz pulses in high peak and high average power mode

Abstract

The regime of excitation of microwave pulses in a 10-GHz range at a pulse duration of 0.8 ns and a peak power of ∼2 GW has been studied in a relativistic backward wave oscillator with an extended periodic slow-wave system. A pulsed electron accelerator generating high-current electron beams (3 GW, ∼600 keV, ∼5 kA, 7 ns) at a repetition rate of 700 Hz and a pulse train width of 1 s has been developed based on a high-voltage generator with inductive energy storage, a semiconductor current interrupter, and a pulse-sharpening hydrogen-filled discharge gap. Optimization of the regime of the field-particle interaction allowed an average microwave power of 2.5 kW to be obtained at a transport magnetic field strength reduced below the cyclotron resonance value.