Active X-band pulse compressor using electron-beam switching

Summary form only given. A proposed future TeV collider operating at X-band will require high peak rf powers of hundreds of MW in pulses lasting hundreds of nanoseconds. One method to provide such pulses is through the use of rf pulse compressors to multiply the power produced by high-power klystrons producing multi-microsecond pulse widths. Such compressors can be passive, employing phase switching to discharge rf energy storage cavities, or active, in which a triggered increase in the output coupling coefficient of the energy storage cavities is used to extract the high power rf pulse. Active microwave pulse compressors are of interest because they are capable of higher compression ratios and higher efficiencies than passive compressors employing phase switching. In a series of experiments, a team of researchers from the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Science, Omega-P, Inc., and the Naval Research Laboratory investigated active pulse compressors using a plasma discharge to Q switch the energy storage cavities [1]. These experiments showed both the potential and the limitations of this approach. This paper describes the design of a novel active microwave pulse compressor that makes use of electron beam switching. The paper will describe the design and low power tests of this concept, and present the latest results of planned high power tests.