Design and emission uniformity studies of a 1.5-MW gyrotron electron gun

We present the design and initial operation of a 96-kV 40-A magnetron injection gun for a 1.5-MW 110-GHz gyrotron. A critical parameter for the successful application of this electron gun is the uniformity of electron emission. The current-voltage curve of emission, at a series of temperatures, is measured. Analysis indicates that the work function of the emitter is 1.6 eV with a (total) spread of 0.07 ± 0.01 eV. Measurement of the azimuthal emission uniformity with a rotating probe indicates that the work function variation around the azimuth, the global spread, is 0.04 ± 0.02 eV. The spread due to local (microscopic scale) work function variations is then calculated to be 0.06 ± 0.02 eV. Temperature variation can be ruled out as the cause of the observed emission nonuniformity.