Detailed Investigation on Nonstationary Behavior in a Frequency-Tunable Gyrotron

As a terahertz (THz) radiation source, the frequency-tunable gyrotron is promising in application and attractive to researchers. In this article, the nonstationary phenomenon in a frequency-tunable gyrotron operating in different regimes—gyromonotron, transition, and gyro-backward-wave oscillator (BWO)—has been investigated in detail by 3-D particle in cell (PIC) simulation. Simulated results demonstrate that among the three regimes, gyromonotron has the strongest capability to keep stationary, and nonstationary oscillations are most likely to occur in the transition regime. Moreover, in the gyro-BWO regime, the capability of the system to maintain steady-state operation gets slightly improved with the increase in the axial mode. The corresponding interpretation is based on detuning frequency and feedback mechanism. Finally, the effect of the velocity spread on the nonstationary behavior has also been studied. Investigations reveal that the stability of stationary oscillations would be weakened when velocity spread is considered. The results in this article may be of benefit of a deeper insight into the nonstationary phenomenon in a frequency-tunable gyrotron.