Vacuum Measurement of the Space Traveling Wave Tube at Different Process Stages

With the increasing development of localization of space traveling wave tubes (STWT), the reliability of domestic STWT is the most urgent problem at present. Among them, the maintenance of high vacuum of the STWT is the most important reason for the reliability of the STWT. The vacuum measurement of the STWT at the process stages of vacuum baking, tuning and burn-in, and baseplate soldering is of great significance for the reliability improvement of the STWT. In this paper, a high-vacuum ionization gauge is installed in the STWT to realize the measurement of the vacuum inside the traveling wave tube at different process stages. The results show that: after baking and exhaust, the extreme vacuum of the collector is an order of magnitude different from that of the main pipe; at the process of tuning and burn-in. The vacuum will be about 5 times worse under different working conditions of the STWT. The vacuum of the STWT will be doubled during the soldering process of the baseplate. The conclusion of this paper can provide a detection method for the ultra-high vacuum of the STWT, and provide a basis for the improvement of the reliability of the STWT.