Traveling wave tube

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12444566-B2
Application number	US-202217660376-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2022
Priority date	Apr 22, 2022
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

Described herein is a traveling wave tube (TWT), comprising an electron gun configured to generate an electron beam (E-beam); a signal injector configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) signal; a slow wave structure (SWS) having an aperture configured to combine the E-beam and the RF signal; an outer wall enclosing the SWS; and at least one electromagnetically-active material on one of (1) at least one projection on at least one of a periphery of the SWS and on a side of the outer wall facing the SWS and (2) the periphery of the SWS configured to receive at least one electromagnetic signal to control, on-the-fly, amplification of the RF signal by maximizing dampening of spurious modes while minimizing dampening of operating modes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A traveling wave tube (TWT), comprising:
an electron gun configured to generate an electron beam (E-beam);
a signal injector configured to generate a radio frequency (RF) input signal;
a slow wave structure (SWS) comprising:
an inner structure;
an outer wall enclosing at least the inner structure; and
an aperture configured to combine the E-beam and the RF signal within a space between the inner structure and the outer wall to generate an amplified RF signal; and

at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material on at least one of: (1) at least one projection on at least one of a periphery of the inner structure or on a side of the outer wall facing the inner structure or (2) the periphery of the inner structure, the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material configured to receive at least one electromagnetic signal to control, on-the-fly, amplification of the RF signal by adjusting dampening of spurious modes.

2. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the aperture of the SWS is configured to propagate the amplified RF signal along a path between the periphery of the inner structure and the outer wall so as to completely or partially surround the periphery of the inner structure.

3. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material comprises at least one of: Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Nitride (GaN), Gallium Oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ), Diamond, or Aluminum Nitride (AlN).

4. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic signal comprises at least one of: at least one optical signal or at least one electrical signal.

5. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material is configured to have at least one property changed under control of the at least one electromagnetic signal, wherein the at least one property comprises at least one of: resistivity, conductivity, dielectric permittivity, or magnetic susceptibility.

6. The TWT of claim 5 , wherein the inner structure has a shape of one of: a circular rod, a rectangle, an octagon, a hexagon, or a higher-order polygon; and
wherein the inner structure is one of: hollow, solid, or intermittently hollow and solid.

7. The TWT of claim 5 , wherein a depth/height, spacing, and periodicity of the at least one projection on the inner structure or the at least one projection on the outer wall is set to achieve a particular bandwidth for the RF signal.

8. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material has a number that is as few as one and as many as functionally fits on each of the at least one projection.

9. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic signal is as few as one and as many as one per electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material.

10. The TWT of claim 1 , wherein the SWS comprises at least one of: Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Nitride (GaN), Gallium Oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ), Diamond, or Aluminum Nitride (AlN).

11. A method for use with a traveling wave tube (TWT), comprising:
generating an electron beam (E-beam) by an electron gun;
injecting a radio frequency (RF) signal by a signal injector;
combining the E-beam and the RF signal by an aperture of a slow wave structure (SWS) within a space between an inner structure and an outer wall of the SWS; and
receiving at least one electromagnetic signal on at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material on at least one of: (1) at least one projection on at least one of a periphery of the inner structure or on a side of the outer wall facing the inner structure or (2) the periphery of the inner structure, the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material configured to control, on-the-fly, amplification of the RF signal by maximizing dampening of spurious modes while minimizing dampening of operating modes.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the aperture of the SWS is configured to propagate the combined E-beam and RF signal along a path between the periphery of the inner structure and the outer wall so as to completely or partially surround the periphery of the inner structure.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material comprises at least one of: Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Nitride (GaN), Gallium Oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ), Diamond, or Aluminum Nitride (AlN).

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic signal comprises at least one of: at least one optical signal or at least one electrical signal.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material is configured to have at least one property changed under control of the at least one electromagnetic signal, wherein the at least one property comprises at least one of: resistivity, conductivity, dielectric permittivity, or magnetic susceptibility.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the inner structure has a shape of one of: a circular rod, a rectangle, an octagon, a hexagon, or a higher-order polygon; and
wherein the inner structure is one of: hollow, solid, or intermittently hollow and solid.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein a depth/height, spacing, and periodicity of the at least one projection on the inner structure or the at least one projection on the outer wall is set to achieve a particular bandwidth for the RF signal.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material has a number that is as few as one and as many as functionally fits on each of the at least one projection.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one electromagnetic signal is as few as one and as many as one per electromagnetically/electrooptically-active material.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the SWS comprises at least one of: Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Nitride (GaN), Gallium Oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ), Diamond, or Aluminum Nitride (AlN).

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Sar David R
• Conway Adam M

Classifications

• H01J23/06

  Electron or ion guns · CPC title

• H01J25/36

  Tubes in which an electron stream interacts with a wave travelling along a delay line or equivalent sequence of impedance elements, and without magnet system producing an H-field crossing the E-field · CPC title

• H01J23/24 Primary

  Slow-wave structures {, e.g. delay systems} · CPC title

• H01J23/30 Primary

  Damping arrangements associated with slow-wave structures, e.g. for suppression of unwanted oscillations · CPC title