High-efficiency coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator

This paper studies the coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator (CRBWO) through analytical, numerical, and experimental methods. This new type of device is remarked by its high efficiency of more than 35%, which is predicted by the theoretical calculation and the numerical simulation and validated by experiment. The two primary hindrances preventing CRBWO from achieving the expected high efficiency, the poor coaxiality and the power capacity, are discussed in detail and some advanced methods are developed. The theoretical and numerical conclusions agree with the experiment results, which are obtained from the electric probe and the calorimeter simultaneously for each shot of CRBWO. Employing the electron beam pulse of the full width at half maximum 28 ns, a microwave pulse of the width about 20 ns is generated in the experiment; the power is 710 MW and the efficiency is higher than 33%. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3536837]