Study of Electronic Switching Between Multiple Backward-Wave Modes in a W-Band Extended Interaction Oscillator

The performance of electronic switching between multiple backward-wave modes is studied in a designed extended interaction oscillator (EIO) based on a ladder circuit with finite number of periods to overcome electronic tuning range limits of EIOs operated in standing-wave mode. The dispersion characteristic of the circuit with finite number of periods, which is constructed by a series of discrete modes, is investigated. The mode separation is analyzed and reduced to support continuous switching between multiple different modes by increasing the number of periods as compared with the standing-wave EIO approach. An output circuit is designed to extract the power of backward wave. The electronic switching between nine backward-wave modes has been achieved by changing the beam voltage from 4.1 to 10.5 kV, where the maximum output power over 58 W is obtained at 5.3 kV from the simulation prediction. The EIO can operate over an electronic tuning range of 3.53 GHz from 89.65 to 93.18 GHz in ensuring the output power no less than 20 W. This technique can be extensively applied to increase operating band for extended interaction klystrons (EIKs) and electronic tuning range for EIOs, making them more suitable for many potential applications.