Investigation on Self-Excited Oscillation for Nonuniform Periodic Sheet Beam Traveling-Wave Tubes

The utilization of phase velocity tapering or jumping techniques in the design of traveling wave tubes (TWTs) has become a widely accepted practice for enhancing the efficiency of beam–wave interaction. However, these approaches are not without their challenges, as they can lead to a series of self-excited oscillation (SEO) issues that restrict further improvement in power. In this article, a nonlinear numerical method is explored for fast prediction of SEO in nonuniform periodic sheet beam TWTs (NP-SBTWTs). The oscillation thresholds at the upper and lower band edges are analyzed and discussed under different voltage and current conditions to determine the stable operating conditions for NP-SBTWT. In addition, the concept of “sideband absolute self-excited state” is proposed to be avoided in dispersion design, and the impact of actual reflection characteristics on stability is quantified by defining the eigenvalues of the feedback gain of the interaction structure based on the real reflection parameter. The results demonstrate that this approach distinguishes itself from conventional time-domain particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation techniques by its capacity to integrate authentic reflection parameters into the computation process to achieve a fast prediction of SEO in NP-SBTWT.