Development of a 100-W 200-GHz High Bandwidth mm-Wave Amplifier

Abstract

A millimeter (mm) wave amplifier that combines both high-power output and a wide bandwidth would enable dramatic improvements in areas where high-power radio signals with significant information content are required. However, to date, the only available devices are either high-power vacuum electronic devices with limited bandwidths, or larger bandwidth semiconductor amplifiers with low-power output. Here, we show a new design of a vacuum electronic traveling-wave tube amplifier that has a measured output power of 107 W with a 3-dB bandwidth of 6 GHz centered on 200 GHz. The power-bandwidth product of this amplifier is 642 W-GHz. These results provide a demonstration of a high-power mm-wave source with significant bandwidth. This device is readily scalable to other frequency bands, particularly those in the mm- and sub-mm-wave frequency bands from 100 GHz to 1 THz.