The intense electron-beam-driven elementary monotron

Abstract

Monotrons are electron-beam-driven, single-cavity, single-pass regenerative oscillators. Their relative gain is rather low, hence they have received relatively little attention. When they are driven by an intense, relativistic electron beam, however, they become potentially important sources of intense microwave radiation. They are simple and rugged, and some versions can operate without a guiding magnetic field. Operating efficiency in the 12-25% range appears to be possible in principle, and thus considerable power can be extracted from a pulse-power-driven monotron. A general theory of the linear and nonlinear characteristics of this device has been developed. The theory is capable of predicting the gain, the saturation level, the efficiency, and the sensitivity of the performance to beam quality for any source of the monotron type. Although based on single-particle dynamics, the theory is applicable in the intense-beam limit, since the devices have a short length. Further, if required, the effects of beam fields and space charge can be included. >