Numerical simulation of a 1 THz vacuum electronic source

A 1 THz vacuum electronic source has been designed and implemented by Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation based on rectangular grating slow-wave structure (SWS) and half duty cycle electron beam. The dispersion relation and coupling impedance are analyzed numerically. The simulation results predict that this designed 1 THz vacuum source can produce maximum 102 W saturated power at the end of structure with 19.55 kV, 1A electron beam at frequencies between 0.9985–1.0007 THz. The power growth rate is approximately 23.06 W/mm and modulation depth of pulsed electron beam is nearly 2.10% with a 3 dB bandwidth of 1.1GHz. This vacuum source operate without input driving signal and can be developed into compact, powerful, mobile and attainable sheet-beam THz vacuum electronic sources.