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The paper presents research results on enhancing the peak power of microwave pulses with sub- and nanosecond length using a backward-wave oscillator (BWO) operating at 29 GHz frequency and possessing a reproducible phase structure. Experiments are conducted in two modes on a high-current electron accelerator with the required electron beam power. In the first (superradiation) mode, which utilizes the elongated slow-wave structure, the BWO peak power is 3 GW at 180 ns pulse duration (full width at halfmaximum, FWHM). In the second (quasi-stationary) mode, the BWO peak power reaches 600 MW at ~2 ns pulse duration (FWHM). The phase spread from pulse to pulse can vary from units to several tens of percent in a nanosecond pulse mode. The experiments do not show any influence of microwave breakdown on the BWO power generation and radiation pulse duration.

In this paper, we present the results of investigations of a uniform three-centimeter relativistic backward-wave tube (BWT) with circular waveguide operating mode E01 with pulse power 3 GW and efficiency about 20%. We have obtained a dependence of the radiation pulse duration on the generated power. We discuss the problems involved in shortening the duration of the microwave pulses in oscillators with high microwave field intensity on the surface of the slow-wave structure.