Evaluation of gyrotron cathode emission inhomogeneity from current-voltage characteristics

In order to evaluate the emission inhomogeneity of a thermionic gyrotron emitter, three mathematical treatments of the current-voltage characteristics (CVC) have been investigated and will be presented in this paper. Results for three different gyrotrons and for different emitter temperatures based on experimental data and mathematical treatment will be considered. The relation between the effective emission inhomogeneity and the work function distribution is numerically calculated.