Electron discharge device having plural electron beams, slow wave structures, and r.f. signals, each signal interacting with a plurality of beams

Claim 1

AN ELECTRIC DISCHARGE DEVICE HAVING: (A) AN INTERACTION CIRCUIT INCLUDING (I) AT LEAST TWO SLOW WAVE STRUCTURES ALONG WHICH ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES ARE ARRANGED TO BE PROPAGATED RESPECTIVELY IN OPERATION; (II) EACH SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE BEING FORMED BY A SEQUENCE OF HOLLOW WAVE GUIDE SECTIONS, (A) EACH OF WHICH WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS HAS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL END WALLS WHICH EXTEND PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF THE SECTION; AND (B) EACH OF WHICH SECTIONS IS OF SUCH DIMENSIONS AS TO OPERATE IN A MODE SUCH THAT THERE ARE STRONG AXIAL ELECTRIC FIELDS AT THE CENTER OF THE SECTION AND STRONG TRANSVERSE MAGNETIC LOOPS NEAR THE PERIPHERY OF THE SECTION, (C) THE WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS OF EACH SEQUENCE BEING DISPOSED END TO END WITH ADJACENT SECTIONS COUPLED TOGETHER AND DISPOSED WITH THEIR AXES PARALLEL, BUT IN NON-ALIGNMENT, SO THAT ADJACENT WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS IN EACH SEQUENCE ONLY PARTIALLY OVERLAP; (III) THE SLOW WAVE STRUCTURES BEING DISPOSED ALONGSIDE ONE ANOTHER (A) WITH THE AXES OF ALL THE WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS PARALLEL, AND (B) THE WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT SLOW WAVE STRUCTURES INTERLEAVED SO THAT EACH WAVE GUIDE SECTION IN EACH SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE PARTIALLY OVERLAPS A WAVEGUIDE SECTION IN ANOTHER SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE, (C) THEREBY FORMING AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT SERIES OF PARTIALLY OVERLAPPING WAVEGUIDE SECTIONS;