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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Novel linear analysis for a gyrotron oscillator based on a spectral approach

With the aim of gaining a better physical insight into linear regimes in gyrotrons, a new linear model was developed. This model is based on a spectral approach for solving the self-consistent system of equations describing the wave-particle interaction in the cavity of a gyrotron oscillator. Taking into account the wall-losses self-consistently and including the main system inhomogeneities in the cavity geometry and in the magnetic field, the model is appropriate to consider real system parameters. The main advantage of the spectral approach, compared with a time-dependent approach, is the possibility to describe all of the stable and unstable modes, respectively, with negative and positive growth rates. This permits to reveal the existence of a new set of eigenmodes, in addition to the usual eigenmodes issued from cold-cavity modes. The proposed model can be used for studying other instabilities such as, for instance, backward waves potentially excited in gyrotron beam tunnels.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dependence of the gyrotron efficiency on the azimuthal index of non-symmetric modes

Development of MW-class gyrotrons for future controlled fusion reactors requires careful analysis of the stability of high efficiency operation in very high-order modes. In the present paper, this problem is analyzed in the framework of the non-stationary self-consistent theory of gyrotrons. Two approaches are used: the one based on the wave envelope representation of the resonator field and the second one based on representation of this field as a superposition of eigenmodes, whose fields are determined by a self-consistent set of equations. It is shown that at relatively low beam currents, when the maximum efficiency can be realized in the regime of soft self-excitation, the operation in the desired mode is stable even in the case of a very dense spectrum of competing modes. At higher currents, the maximum efficiency can be realized in the regimes with hard self-excitation; here the operation in the desired mode can be unstable because of the presence of some competing modes with low start currents. Two 170 GHz European gyrotrons for the international thermonuclear experimental reactor are considered as examples. In the first one, which is the 2 MW gyrotron with a coaxial resonator, the stability of operation in a chosen TE{sub 34,19}-mode in the presence of two sideband modes with almost equidistant spectrum is analyzed and the region of magnetic fields in which the oscillations of the central mode are stable is determined. The operation of the second gyrotron, which is the 1 MW gyrotron with a cylindrical cavity currently under development in Europe, is studied by using the wave envelope approach. It is shown that high efficiency operation of this gyrotron in the TE{sub 32,9}-mode should be stable.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Suppression and nonlinear excitation of parasitic modes in second harmonic gyrotrons operating in a very high order mode

In recent years, there was an active development of high-power, sub-terahertz (sub-THz) gyrotrons for numerous applications. For example, a 0.67 THz gyrotron delivering more than 200 kW with about 20% efficiency was developed. This record high efficiency was achieved because the gyrotron operated in a high-order TE{sub 31,8}-mode with the power of ohmic losses less than 10% of the power of outgoing radiation. That gyrotron operated at the fundamental cyclotron resonance, and a high magnetic field of about 27 T was created by a pulse solenoid. For numerous applications, it is beneficial to use gyrotrons at cyclotron harmonics which can operate in available cryomagnets with fields not exceeding 15 T. However, typically, the gyrotron operation at harmonics faces severe competition from parasitic modes at the fundamental resonance. In the present paper, we consider a similar 0.67 THz gyrotron designed for operation in the same TE{sub 31,8}-mode, but at the second harmonic. We focus on two nonlinear effects typical for interaction between the fundamental and second harmonic modes, viz., the mode suppression and the nonlinear excitation of the mode at the fundamental harmonic by the second harmonic oscillations. Our study includes both the analytical theory and numerical simulations performed with the self-consistent code MAGY. The simulations show that stable second harmonic operation in the TE{sub 31,8} mode is possible with only modest sacrifice of efficiency and power.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effects of electron beam parameters and velocity spread on radio frequency output of a photonic band gap cavity gyrotron oscillator

In this paper, the effects of electron beam parameters and velocity spread on the RF behavior of a metallic photonic band gap (PBG) cavity gyrotron operating at 35 GHz with TE{sub 041}–like mode have been theoretically demonstrated. PBG cavity is used here to achieve a single mode operation of the overmoded cavity. The nonlinear time-dependent multimode analysis has been used to observe the beam-wave interaction behavior of the PBG cavity gyrotron, and a commercially available PIC code “CST Particle Studio” has been reconfigured to obtain 3D simulation results in order to validate the analytical values. The output power for this typical PBG gyrotron has been obtained ∼108 kW with ∼15.5% efficiency in a well confined TE{sub 041}–like mode, while all other competing modes have significantly low values of power output. The output power and efficiency of a gyrotron depend highly on the electron beam parameters and velocity spread. The influence of several electron beam parameters, e.g., beam voltage, beam current, beam velocity pitch factor, and DC magnetic field, on the PBG gyrotron operations has been investigated. This study would be helpful in optimising the electron beam parameters and estimating accurate RF output power of the high frequency PBG cavity based gyrotron oscillators.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Theory and Modeling of High-Power Gyrotrons

This report summarized results of the work performed at the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics of the University of Maryland (College Park, MD) in the framework of the DOE Grant “Theory and Modeling of High-Power Gyrotrons”. The report covers the work performed in 2011-2014. The research work was performed in three directions: - possibilities of stable gyrotron operation in very high-order modes offering the output power exceeding 1 MW level in long-pulse/continuous-wave regimes, - effect of small imperfections in gyrotron fabrication and alignment on the gyrotron efficiency and operation, - some issues in physics of beam-wave interaction in gyrotrons.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Research on a 170 GHz, 2 MW coaxial cavity gyrotron with inner-outer corrugation

In this paper, a coaxial cavity gyrotron with inner-outer corrugation is researched. The electron kineto-equations and the first order transmission line equations of the gyrotron are derived from Lorentz force equation and the transmission line theory, respectively. And then, a 2 MW, 170 GHz coaxial cavity gyrotron with inner-outer corrugation is designed. By means of numerical calculation, the beam-wave interaction of the coaxial cavity gyrotron with inner-outer corrugation is investigated. Results show that the efficient and the outpower of the gyrotron are 42.3% and 2.38 MW, respectively.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Perspective gyrotron with mode converter for co- and counter-rotation operating modes

A gyrotron oscillator operating efficiently at modes of both rotations was developed and tested. The gyrotron operation can be switched between two modes: co- and counter rotating ones with respect to electron rotation in a resonance magnetic field. A synthesized mode converter provides output of both waves in the form of two different paraxial wave beams corresponding to direction of the mode rotation. Measured gyrotron power (up to 2 MW), interaction efficiency (34%), and diffraction losses in the mode converter (≈2%) agree well with the design values. The proposed gyrotron scheme alloys principal enhancement in the device parameters—possibility of electronic switching of output wave beam direction and possibility to arrange an effective scheme to provide frequency/phase locking of a gyrotron-oscillator.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Theoretical study on mode competition between fundamental and second harmonic modes in a 0.42 THz gyrotron with gradually tapered complex cavity

In this paper, the nonlinear dynamics of mode competition in the complex cavity gyrotron are studied by using multi-frequency, time-dependent theory with the cold-cavity longitudinal profile approximation. Based on the theory, a code is written to simulate the mode competition in the gradually tapered complex cavity gyrotron operating at second harmonic oscillation. The simulations tracking seven competition modes show that single mode oscillation of the desired mode TE{sub 17.4} at 150 kW level can be expected with proper choice of operating parameters. Through studying on mode competition, it is proved that the complex cavity has a good capability for suppressing the mode competition. Meanwhile, it is found that TE{sub 17.3} could be excited in the first cavity as a competition mode when the gyrotron operating at large beam current, which leads to that TE{sub 17.3} and TE{sub 17.4} with different frequencies can coexist stably in the complex cavity gyrotron with very close amplitudes. Thus, the complex cavity might be used for multi-frequency output gyrotron.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Design and High-Power Test of an Internal Coupler to HE 11 Mode in Corrugated Waveguide for High-Power Gyrotrons

Gyrotrons produce power in high-order, transverse electric modes that are typically converted to a Gaussian beam inside the tube. In fusion plasma heating applications, the power is transmitted through a diamond window to an external mirror optical unit where it is coupled into an HE 11 mode in corrugated waveguide. A new coupler is described that couples the cavity RF power directly into corrugated waveguide inside the gyrotron. A high power gyrotron with the improved coupler was tested using 1-MW, 3-μs pulses and demonstrated equivalent power and efficiency as a traditional coupler with HE 11 mode output in corrugated waveguide. In addition, higher HE 11 mode purity was achieved at the gyrotron output.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Harmonic gyrotrons operating in high-order symmetric modes

It is shown that gyrotrons operating at cyclotron harmonics can be designed for operation in symmetric TE{sub 0,p}-modes. Such operation in fundamental harmonic gyrotrons is possible only at small radial indices (p≤3) because of the severe mode competition with TE{sub 2,p}-modes, which are equally coupled to annular beams as the symmetric modes. At cyclotron harmonics, however, this “degeneracy” of coupling is absent, and there is a region in the parameter space where harmonic gyrotrons can steadily operate in symmetric modes. This fact is especially important for sub-THz and THz-range gyrotrons where ohmic losses limit the power achievable in continuous-wave and high duty cycle regimes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

TWANG-PIC, a novel gyro-averaged one-dimensional particle-in-cell code for interpretation of gyrotron experiments

A new gyrotron simulation code for simulating the beam-wave interaction using a monomode time-dependent self-consistent model is presented. The new code TWANG-PIC is derived from the trajectory-based code TWANG by describing the electron motion in a gyro-averaged one-dimensional Particle-In-Cell (PIC) approach. In comparison to common PIC-codes, it is distinguished by its computation speed, which makes its use in parameter scans and in experiment interpretation possible. A benchmark of the new code is presented as well as a comparative study between the two codes. This study shows that the inclusion of a time-dependence in the electron equations, as it is the case in the PIC-approach, is mandatory for simulating any kind of non-stationary oscillations in gyrotrons. Finally, the new code is compared with experimental results and some implications of the violated model assumptions in the TWANG code are disclosed for a gyrotron experiment in which non-stationary regimes have been observed and for a critical case that is of interest in high power gyrotron development.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

High harmonic terahertz confocal gyrotron with nonuniform electron beam

The harmonic confocal gyrotron with nonuniform electron beam is proposed in this paper in order to develop compact and high power terahertz radiation source. A 0.56 THz third harmonic confocal gyrotron with a dual arc section nonuniform electron beam has been designed and investigated. The studies show that confocal cavity has extremely low mode density, and has great advantage to operate at high harmonic. Nonuniform electron beam is an approach to improve output power and interaction efficiency of confocal gyrotron. A dual arc beam magnetron injection gun for designed confocal gyrotron has been developed and presented in this paper.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nanosecond rf-Power Switch for Gyrotron-Driven Millimeter-Wave Accelerators

The development of alternative mm-wave high-gradient, >200 MV/m, accelerating structures offers a promising path to reduce the cost and footprint of future TeV-scale linear colliders, as well as linacs for industrial, medical, and security applications. The major factor limiting accelerating gradient is vacuum rf breakdown. The probability of such breakdowns increases with pulse length. For reliable operation, millimeter-wave structures require nanoseconds-long pulses at the megawatt level. This power is available from gyrotrons, which have a minimum pulse length on the order of microseconds. To create shorter pulses and to reliably detect rf breakdowns, we developed the following devices: a laser-based rf switch capable of selecting 10 ns long pulses out of the microseconds long gyrotron pulses, thus enabling the use of the gyrotrons as power sources for mm-wave high-gradient linacs, and a shot-to-shot sub-THz spectrometer with high-frequency resolution, capable of detecting pulse shortening due to rf breakdowns. We will describe the principle of operation of these devices and their achieved parameters. Here, we also report on the experimental demonstration of these devices with the high-power gyrotron at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the experiments, we demonstrate nanosecond rf power modulation, shot-to-shot measurements of the pulse spectra, and detection of rf breakdowns.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of electron-cyclotron resonance plasma heating conditions on the low-frequency modulation of the gyrotron power at the L-2M stellarator

Low-frequency modulation of the gyrotron power at the L-2M stellarator was studied at different modes of plasma confinement. The plasma was heated at the second harmonic of the electron gyrofrequency. The effect of reflection of gyrotron radiation from the region of electron-cyclotron resonance plasma heating, as well as of backscattering of gyrotron radiation from fluctuations of the plasma density, on the modulation of the gyrotron power was investigated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1989

Operation of a step tunable megawatt gyrotron

An electron cyclotron resonance maser; gyrotron fundamental oscillator; advantages of gyrotrons; a schematic of the experiment; gyrotron design theory; 1 MW design parameters; compact ignition tokamak; and a gyrotron with quasi-optical output coupler are briefly presented. This presentation is represented by viewgraphs only.

Kreischer, K. E.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Study of the Effect of Reflections on High-Power, 110-GHz Pulsed Gyrotron Operation

The effect of reflection is studied experimentally and theoretically on a high-power 110-GHz gyrotron operating in the TE 22,6 mode in 3 μs pulses at 96 kV, 40 A. The experimental setup allows variation of the reflected power from 0 to 33% over a range of gyrotron operating conditions. The phase of the reflection is varied by translating the reflector along the axis. Operating at a higher efficiency point, at 4.40 T with 940kW of output power, reflected power exceeding 11% causes a switch from operation in the TE 22,6 to simultaneous operation in the TE 22,6 and TE 21,6 modes with a large decrease of the total gyrotron output power. This switching effect is in good agreement with simulations using the MAGY code. Operating at a more stable point, 4.44 T with 580kW of output power, when the reflection is increased, the output power remains in the TE 22,6 mode but it decreases monotonically with increasing reflection, dropping to 200kW at 33% reflection. Furthermore, at a reflection above 22%, a power modulation at 25 to 30MHz is observed, independent of the phase of the reflected wave. Such a modulated signal may be useful in spectroscopic and other applications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A point-like source of extreme ultraviolet radiation based on a discharge in a non-uniform gas flow, sustained by powerful gyrotron radiation of terahertz frequency band

The possibility and prospects of extreme ultraviolet (UV) point-like source development are discussed in the present paper. The UV source is based on the discharge sustained by powerful gyrotron radiation of terahertz (THz) frequency band in non-uniform gas flow injected into vacuum volume through a nozzle with diameter less than 1 mm. Recent developments of THz-band gyrotrons with appropriate power level made such discharges possible. First experimental results on a point-like plasma creation by 100 kW radiation of 0.67 THz gyrotron are presented. The possibility of discharge localization within the area less than 1 mm is demonstrated. The discharge emission within the wavelength range from 112 nm to 650 nm was studied. The measured power of light emission in the range of 112–180 nm was measured to be up to 10 kW.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗