The Emission Gated Device Experiment

The Emission Gated Device Experiment has been constructed to observe a prebunched electron beam in a traveling wave circuit. The objective of this study is to define the efficiency, bandwidth, and high-frequency performance of emission gated devices for potential applications in radar, electronic warfare, and neutral particle beam accelerators. With tight bunches injected into an undriven helix one wavelength long, an efficiency of 6% and a gain of 10 dB have been observed. Experimental results and simulations are compared with a view to understanding the dynamics of the bunched beam in the circuit fields. Tight bunching and high average current are shown to be the strongest contributors to high efficiency; therefore, a practical device requires a very high gain input circuit.<
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