Efficient relativistic magnetron with lengthy virtual cathode formed using the magnetic mirror effect

In this paper we describe a relativistic magnetron with diffraction output (MDO) that uses a lengthy virtual cathode (VC) instead of a physical cathode as the source of electrons. Unlike our earlier work where the lengthy VC was formed from two VCs that were generated at the input and output of the MDO, here we describe using the magnetic mirror effect instead of the VC at the output of the MDO to not only form a lengthy VC, but also to eliminate axial leakage current to achieve even higher efficiency operation.