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Enormous concerns focus on the high-power and wide bandwidth traveling-wave tube (TWT) for its outstanding performance. In this article, a shape-optimized staggered double-vane slow-wave structure (SWS) for terahertz (THz) sheet beam TWT is proposed. The shape-optimized staggered double-vane SWS takes the advantages of higher interaction impedance, lower transmission loss, and lower phase velocity than conventional staggered double-vane SWSs. The shape-optimized staggered double-vane SWS with 85 periods is designed, fabricated, and cold tested. The measured transmission loss of the shape-optimized staggered double-vane SWS is less than 0.79 dB/cm in the frequency range of 0.211–0.26 THz, which is in good agreement with the simulation results. Furthermore, the beam–wave interaction analysis of a sheet beam TWT with this SWS is given. The output power is predicted to be >100 W with 3-dB bandwidth of >50 GHz. The results show that the shape-optimized staggered double-vane SWS is a very promising scheme to construct a high-power and wideband THz TWT for future applications such as communication and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A $Q$ -band traveling-wave tube (TWT) with profiled helix pitches and profiled inner diameters of slow wave structure (SWS) is proposed. The transmission characteristics of the $Q$ -band TWT are simulated by the Computer Simulation Technology (CST). In the operating frequency band (36.5–41.5 GHz), the simulated voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is less than 1.5. In addition, the beam–wave interaction is simulated to predict the performance of the $Q$ -band TWT when the beam voltage and beam current are 8.5 kV and 60 mA, respectively, and the axial focusing magnetic field is 0.4 T. In the operating frequency band, the self-oscillation is well suppressed, and the device efficiency of the $Q$ -band TWT exceeds 63.5%, and the saturated output power and gain exceed 83 W and 45 dB, respectively, especially the device efficiency can reach the maximum of 69.5% at 37 GHz. When it is backed off 6 dB from the saturation, the device efficiency exceeds 40.5%, up to 42.7% at 39 GHz. Preliminary experiments have confirmed the design. These results show that the proposed $Q$ -band TWT has important applications to the next generation wireless communication system with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel electron-optical system (EOS) for ${G}$ -band traveling-wave tubes (TWT) is investigated by simulation and verified by experiment. The EOS includes a sheet beam electron gun, a tunable periodic cusped magnetic focusing (TPCMF), and a collector. An elliptical focus electrode (FE) featuring a simple geometry and easy fabrication is utilized to compress the pencil beam into the sheet beam with a cross section of 0.4 mm $\times0.1$ mm. The electron gun with a cylindrical cathode of 0.8 mm diameter generates the sheet beam with voltage of 22 kV and current of 115 mA. Based on the sheet beam electron gun, the TPCMF with easy assembly and compact size is then proposed. The experimental results show that the beam transmission is 92.1% within a beam tunnel (its length 21.2 mm and cross section 0.8 mm $\times0.15$ mm). The EOS is suitable for ${G}$ -band TWT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we propose a simulation method to investigate the noise mechanism of traveling-wave tube (TWT). Based on the nonlinear theory of Lagrangian description, 1-D noise model is established to analyze the shot noise and the velocity noise of the electron beam in the drift space, which clearly shows that the beam noise propagates along the electron beam with standing wave shape. The shot noise and the velocity noise can be periodically converted into each other along electron beam transmission, which is consistent with the prediction of the classical noise theory developed by Pierce and Danielson (1954). Using the nonlinear beam–wave interaction theory, the evolution process of the shot noise and the velocity noise of the electron beam transforming to the electromagnetic wave in TWT is illustrated. The calculated results show that the input position of the slow wave circuit may affect the noise power spectral density (NPSD) of the device. The proposed method can provide more intuitive and simple images to explain the noise mechanism of TWT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]