Tunability over three frequency bands induced by mode transition in relativistic backward wave oscillator with strong end reflections

Abstract

This paper presents an efficient approach to realizing the frequency tunability of a relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO) over three frequency bands by mode transition without changing the slow wave structure (SWS). It is figured out that the transition of the operation mode in the RBWO can be efficiently achieved by using the strong end reflection of the SWS. This mode transition results in the tunability of the RBWO over three frequency bands at high power and high efficiency without changing the SWS. In numerical simulation, the output frequency of the RBWO can jump over 7.9 GHz in C-band, 9.9 GHz in X-band, and 12.4 GHz in Ku-band with output power exceeding 3.0 GW and conversion efficiency higher than 35% by just reasonably transforming the structures of the front and post resonant reflectors which provide the strong end reflection for the SWS.