Demonstration of a Planar ${{W}}$ -Band, kW-Level Extended Interaction Oscillator Based on a Pseudospark-Sourced Sheet Electron Beam

Abstract

A W-band extended interaction oscillator (EIO) driven by a pseudospark-sourced sheet electron beam (PS-SEB) is demonstrated in this letter. The idea of combining the advantages of a pseudospark-sourced electron beam (high beam current density), a sheet electron beam geometry (large beam cross-sectional area), and a ladderlike slow wave structure (high-gain per unit length) to generate powerful millimeter-wave radiation was experimentally verified. The PS-SEB based EIO produced ~1.2-kW peak output power, an increase of six times in the measured power from an EIO based on a pseudospark-sourced pencil electron beam. Such a methodology offers a promising solution for portable, low-cost, and powerful millimeterwave and terahertz-wave radiation sources.