Design of a single-stage depressed collector for high-power, pulsed gyroklystron amplifiers

Net efficiency of microwave devices can be enhanced by recovering energy from the spent electron beam. Depressed collectors are commonly used for low to medium voltage (<100 kV), CW microwave tubes to achieve this objective. Designs of single-stage depressed collectors for high-power, high-voltage, pulsed gyroklystron amplifiers are presented here. Theoretical velocity distributions of the spent beams from 17.14 and 35.0 GHz relativistic gyroklystron designs are used as input to the particle trajectory simulations. The entire spent beam is collected at the cylindrical collector held at a depressed potential with respect to the interaction cavities. The magnetic field profile is adjusted to achieve collection of electrons at the maximum depressed value of the collector potential. A significant improvement in the device efficiency is estimated for both designs. A possible implementation scheme for the energy recovery using a double anode electron gun is described in detail.