Linear theory of a gyrotwystron with stagger-tuned cavities

Gyrotwystrons with a large number of stagger-tuned prebunching cavities are promising wide-band high-gain amplifiers of electromagnetic waves. In the present paper, a small-signal theory describing the tradeoff in the gain and the bandwidth in these devices is developed. The results of the study of gyrotwystrons with one-, two-, and three-cavity prebunching sections are presented. These results show a significant increase in the bandwidth due to the stagger-tuning.