Design and Fabrication of a 300 GHz Modified Sine Waveguide Traveling-Wave Tube Using a Nanocomputer Numerical Control Machine

The sine waveguide slow-wave structure is a promising interaction circuit for traveling-wave tubes in the terahertz region because it possesses advantageous properties such as high transmission, easy fabrication, and elimination of the electron beam tunnel. These waveguides could be fabricated by nanocomputer numerical control (CNC) machining, a fabrication method capable of fabricating microscale components. In our study, we evaluate the practical feasibility of manufacturing 300-GHz sine waveguides with the ideal design, using nano-CNC machining. It is found that the ideal sine waveguide circuit must be modified, because of the limitations imposed by the actual tool size of the nano-CNC machine. Simulations of cold- and hot-tests of the circuit-including the electron beam effect-were conducted for both the ideal and the modified sine waveguide circuits. A modified sine waveguide was successfully machined using a nano-CNC machine with a 0.12-mm diameter tool tip. The S-parameters of the fabricated circuit were measured and compared to simulation data. A detailed analysis of the measured transmission loss was performed, and this loss was found to be attributable to a gap left by the assembly process between the two copper plates.