A model of injection-locked relativistic klystron oscillator

By the use of a simple model, we explicitly incorporate the coupling between the driver cavity and the booster cavity in a relativistic klystron amplifier (RKA). We show that this RKA configuration may turn into an injection-locked oscillator only when the beam current is sufficiently high. Other features revealed by this model include: the downshifted frequency mode (“0” mode) is unstable whereas the upshifted frequency mode (“π” mode) is stable; the growth rate of the “0” mode is relatively mild so that the oscillation can start only in an injection-locked mode; the oscillation does not require the presence of reflected electrons; and the separation of the cavities must be sufficiently short. These, and other features, are found to be in qualitative agreement with the recent experiments on the injection-locked relativistic klystron oscillator (RKO) that were conducted at Phillips Laboratory