AIP Advances (Dec 2019)
Evaluation of the dielectric rod attenuation using the modified parallel strips that provide a relatively reasonable field environment
Abstract
A thin film is often coated on the dielectric rods used in traveling wave tubes to provide microwave attenuation. The quality of the thin film will affect the performance of the traveling wave tube. To evaluate the quality of the thin-film by measuring the attenuation performance of the dielectric rod, modified parallel strips with a sample hole are designed to provide a relatively reasonable field working environment for the attenuation evaluation. After analyzing the field distribution of the parallel strips, a sample hole is designed on the side of parallel strips, which is tangent with the outer edge of the strip. An arcuate taper is introduced into the parallel strips to reduce the impedance mismatching. Finally, two unqualified and qualified dielectric rods are measured using the modified parallel strips at frequencies 12 GHz and 18 GHz. The measured results indicate that it is feasible to evaluate whether the thin-film coated on the dielectric rod is qualified or not.