Wave coupling in sheet- and multiple-beam traveling-wave tubes

Abstract

To increase the power level of the sources of coherent electromagnetic radiation at frequencies from 100 GHz up to the terahertz range it makes sense to develop devices with a spatially extended interaction space. Sheet-beam and multiple-beam devices belong to the category. In the present paper the small-signal theory of traveling-wave tubes with sheet-beam and multiple sheet-beam configurations is developed. It is shown that in such tubes the wave coupling on electron beams may occur even in small-signal regimes. The wave coupling and its role for amplification of forward and excitation of backward waves in such amplifiers is studied. Also the effect of transverse nonuniformity of the electromagnetic field on the device operation is analyzed and illustrated by several examples.