Development of a high efficiency travelling-wave tube for satellite communication

Abstract

In this paper, the development of a high efficiency TWT for space applications has been presented. The tube has been developed for 60 watt output power in C-band with TWT efficiency 50%. The electron gun developed for the tube is Pierce convergent type electron gun with an ion barrier. The important aspect of this tube is the development of a four stage depressed collector. The depression of the collector electrodes are so adjusted to achieve collector efficiency in excess of 70%.