Design Study on a Multiple-Tunnel Meander-Line Slow-Wave Structure for a High-Power V-Band Traveling-Wave Tube

Nowadays, there is a strong interest in miniature and high-power vacuum electron devices (VEDs) operating in millimeter and sub-THz bands. VED sources of coherent sub-THz radiation are required for many applications, especially for future advanced high-data-rate telecommunication systems. In this work, we present the results of design study of a meander-line slow-wave structure (SWS) suitable for multiple-sheet-beam operation to achieve a high level of output power. The results of cold-test electromagnetic simulation show a possibility of operation at beam voltage of 12 kV with high values of interaction impedance up to
$12 \Omega $
. The 3-D particle-in-cell simulation of performance of the traveling-wave tube with 400-mA, 12-kV multiple sheet electron beam predicts up to 26-dB gain and up to 376-W output power.