Initial Results of an S-Band Sheet Beam Klystron

A prototype S-band sheet beam klystron (SBK) has been successfully tested. Computer simulations were used in designing the SBK to help mitigate the well-known TE mode instability that has hampered previous efforts. During initial testing a 60 kV pulse to the electron gun resulted in a measured r.f. peak power of 6.1 MW. This is believed to be one of the first successful experimental demonstrations of such a device to operate without interference from the TE mode instability.