Diamond-studded helical traveling wave tube

A novel method of millimeter-wave traveling wave tube (TWT) slow-wave circuit fabrication, employing laser micromachining and the in situ growth of diamond studs as an insulating dielectric, has been developed, which would enable a new class of very wideband, low distortion, high-efficiency amplifie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:I.E.E.E. transactions on electron devices 2005-05, Vol.52 (5), p.695-701
Main Authors: Dayton, J.A., Mearini, G.T., Hsiung Chen, Kory, C.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplifiers
Applied sciences
Carbon compounds
Circuit properties
Circuits
CVD diamond
Devices
Diamond
Diamonds
Dispersions
Efficiency
Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits
Electronic circuits
Electronic tubes, masers
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Helical
Impedance
Laser machining
laser micromachining
Lasers
Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology)
Micromachining
Millimeter wave tubes
selective diamond growth
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Slow wave structures
Traveling wave amplifiers
traveling wave tube (TWT)
Traveling wave tubes
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Summary:A novel method of millimeter-wave traveling wave tube (TWT) slow-wave circuit fabrication, employing laser micromachining and the in situ growth of diamond studs as an insulating dielectric, has been developed, which would enable a new class of very wideband, low distortion, high-efficiency amplifiers. Because the slow-wave circuit is supported by an array of diamond studs, rather than the conventional dielectric rods, we have named this novel device the diamond-studded TWT. Diamond strips have been successfully grown on a molybdenum tube and a diamond-studded helix has been produced using laser micromachining. Computer analysis of the slow-wave structure indicate that this fabrication technique leads naturally to a circuit with nearly flat dispersion over a frequency range, in some configurations, of more than four octaves. Typically, wide bandwidth can only be achieved by reducing efficiency; however, this fabrication technique increases the interaction impedance of the circuit, enabling high efficiency operation without sacrificing bandwidth. The very low dispersion also results in a coupling impedance that is relatively insensitive to frequency that may enable low reflection coupling over a wide frequency band. The resulting slow-wave circuit is essentially a brazed structure and, therefore, inherently robust thermally and mechanically. The manufacturing technology being pursued is applicable to any millimeter-wave helical or helix-derived TWT.
ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/TED.2005.845863