Frequency pulling and bandwidth measurements of a 140 GHz pulsed gyrotron

Abstract

Abstract Accurate measurements of the emission frequency and bandwidth of a pulsed 140 GHz gyrotron have been made using a harmonic mixer system. This system has been used to measure the bandwidth of individual 1 μs pulses of the gyrotron, to determine the dependence of the operating frequency on the cathode voltage and resonator magnetic field, to detect and identify second-harmonic radiation and to study multimode operation. Bandwidths as low as 3 MHz, which is the instrumental limit, have been observed. In addition, frequency pulling has been measured and compared with predictions based on linear and self-consistent non-linear theory. It was found that linear theory is inadequate for describing the frequency characteristics of a gyrotron operating well above the starting current, while self-consistent non-linear theory was in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The small bandwidths and stable operating frequencies that were measured confirm the viability of the gyrotron as a millimetre and sub-millimetre source for plasma diagnostics.