Investigation of a 200GHz microklystron driven by a small diameter pseudospark electron beam

Summary form only given: Demands in plasma diagnostics, radiotherapy, medical research and advanced communications have in recent years resulted in the development of new radiation sources in the terahertz region (0.1 to 10 THz). A klystron is one attractive choice for generation of THz radiation due to its operation mechanism, efficiency and robustness and because its structure is amenable to being scaled down in size to achieve higher frequency operation. Due to the decrease in size as the frequency is increased, there is a need for the electron beam current density to increase in order to achieve reasonable output powers. The pseudospark (PS) discharge is an ideal electron beam source because it can produce a high current density and small diameter (<1 mm) electron beam. A 200 GHz microklystron was designed and simulated using the particle-in-cell (PIC) code MAGIC. Simulation results have revealed a strong amplification signal at this frequency. Based on previous experimental investigations on PS discharges, small-scale single gap PS experiments have recently been conducted resulting in the production of a 1 mm diameter, 4 A, 6 kV electron beam. The experiments show the possibility to further scale down the PS into the sub-mm range to drive a microklystron. The fabrication of the microklystron will be achieved by using a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) process.