High-efficiency terahertz-wave generation based on extended interaction oscillator with strongly-coupled 2π mode operation

Abstract

Abstract A slow-wave structure improvement for enhancing the 2π-mode electronic efficiency is embodied in the validation of an extended interaction oscillator (EIO), which has an electronic efficiency of 6.52% at 0.22 THz from particle-in-cell (PIC) calculations. A 2π-mode bi-periodic slow-wave structure (BPSWS) with staggered long and short slots is utilized for optimizing the circuit performance. The proposed BPSWS has the capability of combining the respective advantages for both π and 2π-mode in terms of coupling performance and output performance, thus supporting a strongly-coupled 2π-mode with higher coupling capability. Compared with the typical mono-periodic SWS (MPSWS), the adopted strongly-coupled 2π-mode effectively improves the characteristic impedance M2R/Q by 103% to 66.79 Ω, the coupling coefficient by 66% to 0.497, and the normalized wave-amplitude by 22%. Accordingly, 503 W of average output power can be derived for the BPSWS-EIO with a 25.7 kV and 0.3 A sheet beam injected. Cold-test experiments were conducted, confirming that the 0.22 THz structure exhibits commendable fabrication precision and consistency and thus demonstrates the expected frequency response.

Keywords

• Extended interaction oscillator (EIO)
• Terahertz sources
• Vacuum electronics
• Strongly-coupled 2π mode