Research on a Low-Magnetic Field High-Efficiency Transit-Time Oscillator With Two Bunchers

In recent years, high-power microwave (HPM) generator with a low working magnetic field has caught more attention as this device has the merit of low energy consumption and the potential of using a permanent magnet package in the HPM system. However, the conversion efficiency of this device is generally low because the electron beam will fluctuate transversely and the modulation depth will decline when the guiding magnetic field is low. To obtain concurrently high-power, high-efficiency, and low operating magnetic field, a transit-time oscillator (TTO) with two bunchers is designed and fabricated. Two bunchers are adopted in the TTO to modulate the electron beam twice. By introducing the second buncher, the modulation depth of the electron beam increases by 23%, and the conversion efficiency increases from 25% to 40.5% in simulations. A microwave with a power of 3.65 GW and a frequency of 4.31 GHz is obtained with a 600-kV, 15-kA electron beam under the guidance of a 0.5-T magnetic field in simulations. Furthermore, the corresponding experiments are carried out to verify the two-buncher TTO, and a microwave with a power of 3.3 GW and a frequency of 4.31 GHz is obtained. The experimental efficiency is 32% with an external magnetic field of 0.48 T.