Abstract
An integrated multi-beam traveling wave tube based on Multi-Corrugated Waveguide SWS (MCW) is investigated by simulation and cold test in this paper. The MCW SWS is adopted here for its high coupling impedance and its natural multi-beam tunnels, then a Ka-band integrated three-beam traveling wave tube amplifier with MCW is designed. The interaction circuit is fabricated by CNC milling with oxygen-free high conductance copper. The cold test is found to be in great consistency with simulation and the S11 is lower than -15 dB from 32~39 GHz. Using CST PIC Studio, the PIC simulation is performed for the interaction circuit with 50-periods SWSs and three beams with 12.9 kV voltage and 67 mA current. The simulation shows significantly better output power, gain, and electronic efficiency than DCW. The maximum output power is about 132.8 W with corresponding electronic efficiency of 5.12% and gain of 41.2 dB. The high power and high efficiency performance of the proposed MCW TWT provides potential application for point-to-multipoint transmission based millimeter-wave wireless system.
Intense competition has already started to revolve around the fifth-generation (5G) and future wireless communication technolog
Those expectations are just the advantages of traveling wave tubes (TWTs) and that is also why TWT can monopolize the communication satellite payload
However, when the frequency approaches Ka or even higher frequency band, the dimensions of the interaction circuit of TWT become smaller. It will reduce the electron beam current and the interaction efficiency, further reducing the output power. Besides, in contrast to the solid-state amplifier, the fabrication and assembly of the TWT have huge challenges. Slow-wave structure (SWS), which is the core component of TWT, not only determines the performance of the TWT but also remarkably affects the difficulty of fabrication and assembly. Limited by the complex processing and assembly demands, some traditional SWS, such as the helix, is no longer applicable when the frequency increases. Therefore, there is an urgent need for some new slow-wave structures, which can not only to achieve the required performance, but also can be processed and manufactured under the existing processing technology conditions.
Double Corrugated Waveguide SWS (DCW
To improve output power, the beam current is vital for the development of TW
In this paper, a Ka-Band Multi-Corrugated Waveguide (MCW) amplifier using three electron beams is proposed. The SWS (shown in

Fig. 1 (a) The perspective for the 3D model of the multi-corrugated waveguide SWS, (b) the top view with dimensional parameters of MCW SWS
图1 (a)多注阵列梳齿型慢波结构的三维图, (b)顶视图
A detailed simulation design of the amplifier and cold testing of the interaction structure are carried out. The interaction circuit is fabricated by CNC milling with oxygen-free high conductance copper (OFHCC). The cold test is measured by a 10 MHz to 40 GHz vector network analyzer. The PIC simulation is performed for the circuit with 50 periods SWSs and three beams with 12.9 kV voltage and 67 mA current.
This paper is organized as follows: Section II describes the characteristics of the MCW structure which is simulated by ANSYS Electromagnetics Suit. Section III presents the fabrication details and the cold test results of the MCW structure. In Section IV, the 3D PIC simulation of the MCW TWT is carried out and the performance is compared to DCW TWT. Finally, a simple conclusion is provided.
The MCW is designed based on the Ka-band DCW. Compared to the performance of DCW TW
According to the analytical model of the corrugated waveguid
The dispersion and coupling impedance characteristics with the variation of pillar length (l), waveguide width (w), period (p) is shown in

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 2 Dispersion and coupling impedance characteristics with the variation of geometric size (a) the pillar length l, (b) the waveguide width w, (c) the period of MCW p
图2 多注阵列梳齿型慢波结构的色散和耦合阻抗随着几何尺寸的变化特性 (a)金属柱的高度 l,(b)慢波结构波导宽度 w,(c)慢波结构的周期 p
Combining all the results, the w is set as 3.6 mm, the l is set to be 1.4 mm, and the p is 2.3 mm. Other parameters are also optimized for better bandwidth and interaction impedance. The final chosen parameters are listed in

Fig. 3 The dispersion curve and coupling impedance of the MCW with dimensions in Table I. note: the beam line of 12.9 kV is superimposed
图3 MCW 的色散曲线和耦合阻抗.注:红色的线代表12.9 kV的电压线
Compared with the Ka-band DC
In the straight waveguide-type SWSs, the input-output coupler is a very important part, which will affect the performance of the tube. Easy fabricated input-output couplers to minimize reflection are essential for MCW SWS.
In this paper, an input-output coupler is designed. The 20-period MCW SWSs with the input-output coupler is simulated by CST MICROWAVE STUDIO and then fabricated by computer numerical control (CNC) milling. The transmission performance of simulation and cold test are found to be in good consistency.
In the design, the WR28 standard waveguide is adopted to connect the WR28 flanges. As shown in

Fig. 4 the 3D model and the assembly sketch of the MCW SWSs
图4 多注集成阵列梳齿型慢波电路装配模型
To simplify the fabrication, the model in

Fig. 5 Fabricated MCW SWS with input-output coupler
图5 多注集成阵列梳齿型慢波结构加工图
The fabricated MCW in

Fig. 6 the photograph of the vector network analyzer and the tested result
图6 矢量网络分析仪测试图
In our simulation, the effective conductivity of the fabricated OFHCC is carefully estimated. According to referenc
, |
is the conductivity with smooth surface, δ is the skin depth, and hs represents the surface roughness and can be described by RMS height of surface.
For OFHCC, is 5.98×1

Fig. 7 comparison between simulation and measured S-parameters of the fabricated MCW SWSs
图7 S 参数的仿真与测试数据对比
The proposed MCW is simulated by CST PARTICLE STUDIO PIC solver and the beam-wave interaction performance is observed.
In the PIC simulation, the beam voltage and current are set to be 12.9 kV and 0.067 A respectively. A uniform axial focusing magnetic field of 0.4 T is used. The interaction circuit with 50-period SWSs is shown in

Fig. 8 Model of the three-beam MCW circuit in CST PARTICLE STUDIO
图8 三电子注梳齿型慢波结构互作用回路模型图 .
The time evolution of the output signal with input signal of 34 GHz and 100 mW input power is shown in

Fig. 9 the variation of input and output signal with time in the frequency of 34 GHz
图9 34GHz的输入信号下输出信号幅值随着时间的变化

Fig. 10 Frequency spectrum of the output signal
图10 输出信号的频谱图

Fig. 11 Energy distribution of electron beam along the transmission direction(z)
图11 电子注沿着传输方向上的相空间图

Fig. 12 the output power and gain versus frequency for the MCW TWT
图12 输出功率和增益随着功率的变化图
The electronic efficiency of MCW TWT is plotted in

Fig. 13 the electronic efficiency of the MCW TWT in the 29~39 GHz frequency band
图13 电子效率随着频率的变化图。
The comparison of the performance of the MCW and the DC
From
Worth mentioning, in the MCW circuit, 50-period SWSs is used, which is 30 periods less than DCW. This implies to some extent that the beam-wave interaction in the multi-beam MCW is more effective than the single beam DCW circuit. In this way, the MCW circuit has potential application in miniaturization.
A multi-beam MCW circuit is proposed to high power and high efficiency TWT amplifier and a three-beam MCW circuit is designed to verify the performance.
The three-beam MCW circuit is designed to work in the frequency range of 32~37 GHz with a low reflection input-output coupler. By CNC milling with OFHCC, the cold test experiment is carried out and S11 less than -15 dB is achieved. The PIC simulation of the MCW shows a significantly better output power, gain and electronic efficiency than DCW. The maximum electronic efficiency and gain are 5.12% and 41.2 dB respectively, larger than 1.2% and 25 dB of DCW.
The proposed multi-beam MCW circuit has important application prospects in high frequency, high power and high efficiency occasions, and exploits a new method for the generation of EM radiation source in point to multipoint transmission millimeter wave wireless system.
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