(30) An attenuator is used with TWT to
(a) prevent oscillations (b) increase gain
(c) prevent saturation (d) help bunching
1 Answer
(a) Prevent Oscillations
QUOTE: In a practical helix millimeter wave traveling-wave tube (TWT), there are always magnetic focusing system for constraining the electron beam as it passes through the interaction region and attenuator for suppressing the oscillations, including backward-wave oscillation (BWO) and improving the output power. In view of the attenuator and magnetic focusing system, a 2D linear theory is employed to analyze BWO start oscillation condition. Numerical results show that the start oscillation length of the millimeter wave TWT decreases when the start position of the attenuator is close to the input section of the slow wave structure (SWS), and that it increases with the decrease of the attenuation length or the increase of the attenuation quantity. Therefore, in order to predict the BWO accurately, we should take into the attenuator and magnetic focusing system account.
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