A novel multi-pin rectangular waveguide slow-wave structure based backward wave amplifier at 340 GHz

A backward wave amplifier（BWA） in a terahertz regime with a novel slow-wave structure（SWS） composed of multi parallel grating pins inside a rectangular waveguide is analyzed. The multi-pin rectangular waveguide SWS possesses good performance and is compatible with micro-fabrication technologies. The dispersion and interaction impedance of the multipin SWS are presented. The stopbands of the modes cling together in a Brillouim zone. The SWS has a high interaction impedance that is suitable for the interaction of multi cylindrical beams. The design, which is based on three parallel pins supporting the wave–beam interaction with four cylindrical beams, is verified by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. A BWA with the central frequency at 340 GHz is demonstrated, and the output power is more than 100 mW.A tuning frequency range of 15 GHz（333–348 GHz） is obtained with a gain of more than 20 dB.

A novel slotted helix slow-wave structure for high power Ka-band traveling-wave tubes

A novel slotted helix slow-wave structure （SWS） is proposed to develop a high power, wide-bandwidth, and high reliability millimeter-wave traveling-wave tube （TWT）. This novel structure, which has higher heat capacity than a conven- tional helix SWS, evolves from conventional helix SWS with three parallel rows of rectangular slots made in the outside of the helix tape. In this paper, the electromagnetic characteristics and the beam-wave interaction of this novel structure operating in the Ka-band are investigated. From our calculations, when the designed beam voltage and beam current are set to be 18.45 kV and 0.2 A, respectively, this novel circuit can produce over 700-W average output power in a frequency range from 27.5 GHz to 32.5 GHz, and the corresponding conversion efficiency values vary from 19% to 21.3%, and the maximum output power is 787 W at 30 GHz.

Research of sine waveguide slow-wave structure for a 220-GHz backward wave oscillator

A watt-class backward wave oscillator is proposed, using the concise sine waveguide slow-wave structure combined with a pencil electron beam to operate at 220 GHz. Firstly, the dispersion curve of the sine waveguide is calculated, then, the oscillation frequency and operating voltage of the device are predicted and the circuit transmission loss is calculated. Finally, the particle-in-cell simulation method is used to forecast its radiation performance. The results show that this novel backward wave oscillator can produce over 1-W continuous wave power output in a frequency range from 210 GHz to 230 GHz. Therefore, it will be considered as a very promising high-power millimeter-wave to terahertz-wave radiation source.

Investigation of a wideband folded double-ridged waveguide slow-wave system

The folded double-ridged waveguide structure is presented and its properties used for wide-band traveling-wave tube are investigated. Expressions of dispersion characteristics, normalized phase velocity and interaction impedance of this structure are derived and numerically calculated. The calculated results using our theory agree well with those obtained by using the 3D electromagnetic simulation software HFSS. Influences of the ridge-loaded area and broad-wall dimensions on the high frequency characteristics of the novel slow-wave structure are discussed. It is shown that the folded double-ridged waveguide structure has a much wider relative passband than the folded waveguide slow-wave structure and a relative passband of 67% could be obtained, indicating that this structure can operate in broad-band frequency ranges of beam-wave interaction. The small signal gain property is investigated for ensuring the improvement of bandwidth. Meanwhile, with comparable dispersion characteristics, the transverse section dimension of this novel structure is much smaller than that of conventional one, which indicates an available way to reduce the weight of traveling-wave tube.

A method of designing photonic crystal grating slow-wave circuit for Ribbon-Beam microwave travelling wave amplifiers

A method of designing a photonic crystal grating slow-wave circuit in which the cylinders of the 2D photonic crystals dot on a cross-sectional plane is established by calculating the band structures of the 2D photonic crystals, and the eigenfrequency of the equivalent waveguide grating. For calculating the band structures, the eigenvalue equations of the photonic crystals in the system of photonie crystal grating slow-wave circuit are derived in a special polarization mode. Two examples are taken to show the method. The design result is validated by the scattering parameters of the same circuit. The result indicates that there exists no photonic band gap if the metal gratings do not extend into the photonic crystals; the design of the circuit without the metal gratings extending into the photonie crystals is less flexible than that with the metal gratings extending into the photonic crystals.

Variational analysis of the disc-loaded waveguide slow-wave structures

The variational method is applied to calculate the dispersion characteristics of disc-loaded waveguide slow-wave structures. The parameters describing the waveguide discontinuities in disc-loaded waveguide are calculated by the variational method. Then the dispersion characteristics of slow-wave structures are obtained using lossless microwave quadrupole theory. Good agreement was observed between results of the Variational method and those of field matching method and high frequency structure simulator. In the case of broad band, results of the variational method are better than those of field matching method.

Automated Synthesis of Wideband Bandpass Filters Based on Slow-Wave EBG Structures

This paper is focused on the automated synthesis of wideband bandpass filters operating at microwave frequencies and based on electromagnetic bandgap(EBG)structures.The classical counterpart of such filter consists of a combination of transmission line sections and shunt-connected grounded stubs placed at equidistant positions.By replacing the transmission line sections with capacitively-loaded lines(a kind of EBG-based lines)exhibiting the same phase shift at the lower cutoff frequency and the same characteristic(actually Bloch)impedance,filter size is reduced and the spurious pass bands can be efficiently suppressed.In practice,the loading capacitances are implemented by means of patches,in order to achieve a fully planar filter implementation.The presence of the patches reduces the effective phase velocity of the capacitively-loaded lines,thus providing a slow-wave effect useful for filter miniaturization.Moreover,due to periodicity,such EBG-based lines exhibit wide stop bands,which are used for spurious suppression.Even though such EBGbased filters were previously reported by some of the authors,a systematic synthesis method was not applied for filter design.In this paper,the main aim is to demonstrate the potential of aggressive space mapping(ASM)for that purpose,and it will be shown that such filters can be automatically synthesized.

A Metamaterial Design Based on Electromagnetic Induction Transparency-Like Effect and Its Slow-Wave Performance

This paper proposes a new metamaterial design that can achieve electromagnetic induction transparency-like (EIT-like) effects in the microwave band. The unit structure of metamaterials consists of square rings and metal wires. The square ring acts as the “bright state” and the metal wire acts as the “dark state”. The destructive interference between the bright state and the dark state produces an EIT-like effect. In the simulation results, a transparent window centered at 4.00 GHz can be observed in the transmission spectrum. By studying the phase change of the transparent window, it is found that the group delay of the metamaterial structure can reach 0.39 ns at 4.00 GHz. This paper also studies the influence of the refractive index of the medium on the EIT-like effect. Numerical simulations show that such metamaterial is very sensitive to the refractive index of the medium, and the sensitivity is 15 mm/RIU. Our design can be extended to other frequency bands and may have potential applications in filtering, sensing, slow-light devices, and nonlinear optics.

A Critical Time-Window for the Selective Induction of Hippocampal Memory Consolidation by a Brief Episode of Slow-Wave Sleep

Although extensively studied, the exact role of sleep in learning and memory is still not very clear. Sleep deprivation has been most frequently used to explore the effects of sleep on learning and memory, but the results from such studies are inevitably complicated by concurrent stress and distress. Furthermore, it is not clear whether there is a strict time-window between sleep and memory consolidation. In the present study we were able to induce time-locked slow-wave sleep(SWS) in mice by optogenetically stimulating GABAergic neurons in the parafacial zone(PZ), providing a direct approach to analyze the influences of SWS on learning and memory with precise time-windows. We found that SWS induced by light for 30 min immediately or 15 min after the training phase of the object-in-place task significantly prolonged the memory from 30 min to 6 h. However, induction of SWS 30 min after the training phase did not improve memory, suggesting a critical time-window between the induction of a brief episode of SWS and learning for memory consolidation.Application of a gentle touch to the mice during light stimulation to prevent SWS induction also failed to improve memory, indicating the specific role of SWS,but not the activation of PZ GABAergic neurons itself, in memory consolidation. Similar influences of light-induced SWS on memory consolidation also occurred for Y-maze spatial memory and contextual fear memory, but not for cued fear memory. SWS induction immediately before the test phase had no effect on memory performance, indicating that SWS does not affect memory retrieval. Thus, by induction of a brief-episode SWS we have revealed a critical time window for the consolidation of hippocampusdependent memory.

Small-signal analysis of a rectangular helix structure traveling-wave-tube

This paper investigates the properties of traveling wave-beam interaction in a rectangular helix traveling-wave-tube （TWT） for a solid sheet electron beam. The ＂hot＂ dispersion equation is obtained by means of the self-consistent field theory. The small signal analysis,which includes the effects of the beam parameters and slow-wave structure （SWS） parameters,is carried out by theoretical computation. The numerical results show that the bandwidth and the small-signal gain of the rectangular helix TWT increase as the beam current increases;and the beam voltage not obviously influences the small signal gain. Among different rectangular helix structures,the small-signal gain increases as the width of the rectangular helix SWS increases,however,the bandwidth decreases whether structure parameters a and L or ψ and L are fixed or not.In addition,a comparison of the small-signal gain of this structure with a conventional round helix is made.The presented analysis will be useful for the design of the TWT with a rectangular helix circuit.

Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of acoustic waves in gas hydrate-bearing sediments

Based on Carcione-Leclaire model,the time-splitting high-order staggered-grid finite-difference algorithm is proposed and constructed for understanding wave propagation mechanisms in gas hydrate-bearing sediments.Three compressional waves and two shear waves,as well as their energy distributions are investigated in detail.In particular,the influences of the friction coefficient between solid grains and gas hydrate and the viscosity of pore fluid on wave propagation are analyzed.The results show that our proposed numerical simulation algorithm proposed in this paper can effectively solve the problem of stiffness in the velocity-stress equations and suppress the grid dispersion,resulting in higher accuracy compared with the result of the Fourier pseudospectral method used by Carcione.The excitation mechanisms of the five wave modes are clearly revealed by the results of simulations.Besides,it is pointed that,the wave diffusion of the second kind of compressional and shear waves is influenced by the friction coefficient between solid grains and gas hydrate,while the diffusion of the third compressional wave is controlled by the fluid viscosity.Finally,two fluid-solid(gas-hydrate formation)models are constructed to study the mode conversion of various waves.The results show that the reflection,transmission,and transformation of various waves occur on the interface,forming a very complicated wave field,and the energy distribution of various converted waves in different phases is different.It is demonstrated from our studies that,the unconventional waves,such as the second and third kinds of compressional waves may be converted into conventional waves on an interface.These propagation mechanisms provide a concrete wave attenuation explanation in inhomogeneous media.

Dispersion characteristics of a slow wave structure with a modified photonic band gap

This paper studies the dispersion characteristics of a modified photonic band-gap slow-wave structure with an open boundary by simulation and experiment. A mode launcher with a wheel radiator and a coupling probe is presented to excite a pure TM01-like mode. The cold test and simulation results show that the TM01-like mode is effectively excited and no parasitic modes appear. The dispersion characteristics obtained from the cold test are in good agreement with the calculated results.

Linear theory of beam–wave interaction in double-slot coupled cavity travelling wave tube

A three-dimensional model of the double-slot coupled cavity slow-wave structure （CCSWS） with a solid round elec- tron beam for the beam-wave interaction is presented. Based on the ＂cold＂ dispersion, the ＂hot＂ dispersion equation is derived with the Maxwell equations by using the variable separation method and the field-matching method. Through numerical calculations, the effects of the electron beam parameters and the staggered angle between adjacent walls on the linear gain are analyzed.

Dispersion Equation of the Coaxial-Radial Line

An all-metal slow-wave structure, coaxial-radial line, which is suitable for application in broadband high power traveling wave tube (TWT) and relativistic TWT as a RF system is introduced. Making use of the field matching method and variational method together with the orthogonality of the Bessel function and the Floquet Theroem for the periodic system, the dispersion characteristic expression is derived. This equation is more rigorous than that of precious reports.

Design of a re-entrant double-staggered ladder circuit for V-band coupled-cavity traveling-wave tubes

The re-entrant double-staggered ladder slow-wave structure is employed in a high-power V-band coupled-cavity traveling-wave tube. This structure has a wide bandwidth, a moderate interaction impedance, and excellent thermal dissipation properties, as well as easy fabrication. A well-matched waveguide coupler is proposed for the structure. Combining the design of attenuators, a full-scale three-dimensional circuit model for the V-band coupled-cavity traveling- wave tube is constructed. The electromagnetic characteristics and the beam wave interaction of this structure are investigated. The beam current is set to be 100 mA, and the cathode voltage is tuned from 16.8 kV to 15.8 kV. The calculation results show that this tube can produce a saturated average output power over 100 W with an instantaneous bandwidth greater than 1.25 GHz in the frequency ranging from 58 GHz to 62 GHz. The corresponding gain and electronic efficiency can reach over 32 dB and 6.5%, respectively.

Study on a W-band modified V-shaped microstrip meander-line traveling-wave tube

The study on a miniaturized, low-voltage, wide-bandwidth, high-efficiency modified V-shaped microstrip meander-line slow-wave structure is presented. This structure is evolved from the original U-shaped microstrip meander-line slow-wave structure, combining the advantages of a traditional microstrip and a rectangular helix. In this paper, simulations of the electromagnetic characteristics and the beam-wave interaction of this structure are carried out. Our study shows that when the design voltage and the current of a sheet electron beam are set to be 4700 V and 100 mA, respectively, this miniature millimeter-wave power amplifier is capable of delivering 160-W output power with a corresponding gain of 37.3 dB and a maximum interaction efficiency of 34% at 97 GHz.

An open-styled dielectric-lined azimuthally periodic circular waveguide for a millimeter wave traveling-wave tube

An open-styled dielectric-lined azimuthMly periodic circular waveguide （ODLAP-CW） for a millimeter-wave traveling-wave tube （TWT） is proposed, which is a modified form of a dielectric-lined azimuthally periodic circular waveguide （DLAP-CW）. The slow-wave characteristics of the open-styled DLAP-CW are studied by using the spatial harmonics method, which includes normalized phase velocity and interaction impedance. The complicated dispersion equations are numerically solved with MATLAB and the results are in good agreement with the simulation results obtained from HFSS. The influence of structural parameters on the RF properties is investigated based on our theory. The numerical results show that the optimal thickness of the metal rod can increase the interaction impedance, with the dielectric constant held fixed. Finally, the slow-wave characteristics and transmission properties of an open-styled structure are compared with those of the DLAP-CW. The results validate that the mode competition is eliminated in the improved structure with only a slight influence on the dispersion characteristics, which may significantly improve the stability of an open-styled DLAP-CW-based TWT, and the interaction efficiency is also improved.