Traveling wave maser using rectangular fingers with spacers, composite maser slab, and broadband isolation

Claim 1

A TRAVELING WAVE MASER AMPLIFIER COMPRISING: A SECTION OF RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE HAVING A PAIR OF NARROW AND A PAIR OF WIDE WALLS, MEANS FOR PROPAGATING SIGNAL WAVE ENERGY WITHIN SAID GUIDE COMPRISING A COMB STRUCTURE HAVING A COPLANAR ARRAY OF PARALLEL CONDUCTIVE FINGERS, EACH OF SAID FINGERS HAVING ONE END SHORT-CIRCUITED TO ONE OF SAID NARROW WALLS AND THE OTHER END OPENCIRCUITED, A COMPOSITE SLAB OF MASER MATERIAL HAVING AN INNER PORTION OF 90 DEGREE MASER MATERIAL AND AN OUTER PORTION OF 0 DEGREE MASER MATERIAL POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID COMB AND EACH OF SAID WIDE WALLS WITH SAID INNER PORTION CONTIGUOUS WITH SAID FINGERS, SAID MATERIAL EXTENDING LONGITDUIANLLY ALONG SAID GUIDE OVER AN INTERVAL COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID COMB, MEANS FOR MAINTAINING A UNIFORM SPACING BETWEEN ADJACENT FINGERS AS THE TEMPERATURE OF SAID AMPLIFIER IS VARIED OVER A RANGE OF TEMPERATURES BETWEEN ROOM TEMPERATURE AND CRYOGENIC TEMPERTATURES COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACERS DISPOSED BETWEEN AND IN CONTACT WITH SAID ADJACENT FINGERS AND BONDED TO AN END OF ONE OF SAID SLABS ADJACENT TO THE OPEN-CIRCUITED END OF SAID FINGERS, MEANS FOR MAINTAINING A FIXED RELATIVE POSITION BETWEEN SAID FINGERS AND SAID OTHER SALB AS THE TEMPERATURE IS VARIED OVER SAID RANGE OF TEMPERATURES COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ADDITONAL SPACERS EXTENDING BETWEEN AND IN CONTACT WITH ADJACENT FINGERS BONDED TO SAID OTHER SLAB ADAJCENT TO THE SHORT-CIRCUITED END OF SAID FINGERS, MEANS FOR PROVIDING NONRECIPROCAL ATTENUATION FOR OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS OF SIGNAL PROPAGATION THROUGH SAID AMPLIFIER COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO STRIPS OF GYROMAGNETIC ELEMENTS DISTRIBUTED LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID COMB, THE FIRST OF SAID STRIPS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSER TO SAID GINGERS THAN THE OTHER OF SAID STRIPS, AND MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING A STEADY MAGNETIC FIELD THROUGH SAID MASER MATERIAL AND THROUGH SAID GYROMAGNETIC ELEMENTS.