Theoretical and simulation study of 0.14 THz fundamental mode multi-beam folded waveguide traveling wave tube

Abstract

To improve the current and output power of the THz traveling wave tube (TWT), a fundamental mode multi-beam folded waveguide (FMMBFW) TWT scheme is proposed. Firstly, an equivalent circuit model FMMBFW for calculating the high-frequency characteristic is established and compared with numerical simulation. Secondly, the transmission characteristic of 60 periods FMMBFW is analyzed. Finally, the beam-wave interaction characteristic of 0.14 THz FMMBFW TWT is completed by numerical simulation and theoretical calculation. When the DC current is 12 mA and the applied voltage is 15.75 kV, the 3 dB bandwidth of 0.14 THz FMMBFW TWT is 25 GHz (128-153 GHz), the maximum gain is 33.61 dB and the maximum output power is 23 W. When the DC current is 30 mA and the voltage is 15.75 kV, the maximum gain is 38 dB and the maximum pulse output power is 63.1 W at 0.14 THz. Compared with the fundamental single-beam folded waveguide (FW) TWT under the same working condition, the 3 dB bandwidth is doubled, its output power is raised by a factor of 9.66 and the interaction efficiency is increased by 3.22 times. Based on the same gain, the length of FMMBFW TWT is just 52.6 mm while the length of single beam FW-TWT is 78.2 mm. The proposed method can increase effectively the current of FMMBFW TWT; and the interaction gain, efficiency, 3 dB bandwidth, output power can be improved. When the gain is the same, a shorted and compact FMMBFW TWT can be constucuted.