Single-step port-reconfigurable cavity combiner with high efficiency

Abstract

Solid-state (SS) amplifiers present many benefits and advantages that make this technology a good candidate to substitute traditional vacuum technology amplifiers. The evidence is that many large scientific facilities are upgrading their radiofrequency (RF) power systems, replacing tetrodes or IOTs (Inductive Output Tubes) by SS amplifiers. Following this tendency, SS technology has been selected for the RF Power System of IFMIF-DONES (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – DEMO-oriented Neutron Source). One of the current challenges in SS amplifiers is focused on achieving high efficiency in the power combination. This paper introduces a promising RF power combination technique for the reduction of the combination losses. It consists of a resonant cavity combiner, which can combine in only one step the power of a large number of power inputs with high efficiency. The design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a prototype cavity combiner will be presented. The objective is to develop an industrial design for the large-scale production that will be demanded by the IFMIF-DONES RF Power System.