Influence of voltage rise time on phase locking by priming effect in weakly resonant relativistic backward wave oscillators

Abstract

Phase locking is the key point of coherent power combination, which is very important for the development of high power microwave sources. In this paper, theoretical analysis and particle-in-cell simulations investigate the influence of the diode voltage rise time on phase locking by the priming effect in a weakly resonant relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO). When the diode voltage rise time becomes long and the final output frequency remains unchanged, the initial operation frequency may fluctuate around a value which is not equal to the final output frequency. Moreover, this state may last for several nanoseconds and then jumps to the final output frequency, which is very important for phase locking. Besides, it is suggested that, due to the weak resonance of the RF cavity without the electron beam, the microwave signal with frequency which is much lower than the final output frequency is usually excited at the beginning of the starting process. Finally, it is found that, when the injected frequency approaches the frequency of the initial microwave signal, the phase locking by the priming effect in the RBWO with long voltage rise time is noticeably improved, and the starting process becomes more rapid as well. The simulation results agree well with theoretical analysis.