Design and Experiments of the Sheet Electron Beam Transport with Periodic Cusped Magnetic Focusing for Terahertz Traveling-Wave Tubes

Abstract

The successful transport of a sheet electron beam under the periodic cusped magnet (PCM) focusing at the terahertz frequencies is reported. The sheet beam with a current density of 285 A/cm2 is intended for the developing G-band sheet-beam traveling-wave tube (TWT) whose operating voltage is nominally 24.5 kV. A beamstick was developed to validate the design of the electron optics system, which is considered as the most challenging part for developing a sheet-beam device. A beam transmission ratio of 81% is achieved over a distance of 37.5 mm at a cathode voltage of −25.0 kV. The total current and the collector current were measured to be 125 and 102 mA, respectively. The experimental results are promising, demonstrating that the PCM scheme is capable of focusing a high-current-density sheet beam and hence can find use in the terahertz TWTs, offering the advantages of compact size and light weight.