Nanosecond Microwave Pulse Amplification Based on a High-Power Gyrotron Traveling Wave Tube

Abstract

This article presents the amplification of nanosecond pulses using a Ku-band TE11 gyrotron traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT). The output performance is analyzed through simulation and experiment at 15.0–17.0 GHz with different pulse widths. Simulated results show that the maximum saturation power for a single-frequency pulse can reach 292.7 kW with a pulsewidth of 2.0 ns. As the input pulsewidth further shortens, the output power of the gyro-TWT decreases. The shortest pulsewidth to achieve a hundred-kilowatt level output power is 1.1 ns. In the hot test, the maximum power is 201.4 kW at 15.5 GHz with a single-frequency pulsewidth of 4.7 ns. For an up-chirped pulse from 15.0–16.0 GHz, the output power of ~100 kW with a minimum output pulsewidth is 3.8 ns.