Normal Modes and Slow-Wave Instabilities in Oversized Coaxial Slow-Wave Structure With Rectangular Corrugations

Normal modes and slow-wave instabilities in an oversized coaxial slow-wave structure (SWS) are numerically analyzed for the case of a weakly relativistic annular beam. The coaxial SWS has outer and inner rectangular corrugations with K-band dimensions. The inner corrugations have a cylindrical surface wave, which is the fundamental mode and exists even if the outer conductor is removed. The outer corrugations generate higher-order waveguide modes. Both transverse and longitudinal beam perturbations are considered in the beam interactions, leading to slow cyclotron instabilities as well as Cherenkov instabilities. The instabilities of axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric modes have almost the same growth rates. The relative position between the outer and inner corrugations affects the normal modes and may allow wide frequency tunability.