Relativistic electron beam crossed-field device

Claim 2

An intense relativistic electron crossed-field magnetron device that comprises, in combination: a cylindrical field emission cathode capable of providing extremely high electron current densities; an anode which also serves as a slow wave structure, said anode comprising a plurality of axially-symmetric, periodic, circumferentially-spaced cavities distributed along a circular path, said cavities serving to bunch electrons in the form of spokes that rotate around the axis of symmetry in an operating device, the rotating bunched electrons acting to induce electromagnetic fields in the cavities; means to create a magnetic field in the region between the cathode and the anode; and means to couple out electromagnetic radiation from the cavities.

Claim 3

An intense relativistic-electron crossed-beam device as claimed in claim 1 in which the device is a magnetron in the form of a nested structure with the cathode being the central or inner member of the structure and the anode being the outer member thereof, the cathode and the anode being separated by a vacuum gap from one another, and in which the slow wave structure comprises a plurality of outwardly extending cavities distributed along the gap, said cavities, in an operating device, serving to bunch electrons which rotate azimuthally around the cathode.

Claim 4

An intense relativistic electron crossed-beam device as claimed in claim 3 in which the cathode is a cylindrically shaped member, in which the gap is an annularly shaped space about the cathode, and in which the cavities are distributed uniformly along a circular path about the axis of the cylinder and extend radially outward.

Claim 5

A system that includes a crossed-beam device as claimed in claim 3 and that further includes high voltage source means connected between the cathode and the anode to extract electrons from the cathode and form a very dense space charge cloud of such electrons near the cathode, the magnetic field being an axial magnetic field which causes the electrons to circulate in a closed-loop path in the vacuum gap around the cylindrical cathode, said cavities serving to bunch the electrons as they move in the closed-loop path, the bunched, moving electrons acting to induce electromagnetic fields in the cavities, one of the cavities having an iris to permit the electromagnetic fields to escape as radiation from such cavity.

Claim 6

A system as claimed in claim 4 that further includes means to evacuate the spaces in said gap and in said cavities to form a vacuum therein, the gap and the cavities acting in combination to form a resonant cavity for the electrons.

Claim 7

An intense relativistic-electron crossed-field device as claimed in claim 1 in which the device is a magnetron in the form of a nested structure wherein the cathode is graphite or other good field emission material and the central or inner member of the structure and the anode is the outer member thereof, the cathode and the anode being separated from one another by an annular vacuum gap, the electric current being electrons that emit from the cathode and move in a circumferential direction within the annular gap by virtue of the effect of the crossed-electric and magnetic fields, and in which the slow wave structure that forms part of the anode comprises a plurality of cavities distributed along the periphery of the annular gap, said cavities, in an operating device, serving to bunch electrons in the form of spokes that move in a circumferential direction within the annular gap.

Claim 8

A device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the cathode is cylindrical.

Claim 9

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cathode is in the form of a cylindrical spiral.

Claim 10

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cathode is in the form of a solid cylinder.

Claim 11

An intense relativistic electron beam crossed-field magnetron device that comprises, in combination: a cylindrical field emission cathode capable of providing extremely high current densities of the order of kiloamperes per square centimenter; an anode which also serves as a slow wave structure, and anode being separated from the cathode by a vacuum region, said anode comprising a plurality of periodic, circumferentially spaced, radially oriented cavities distributed along a circular path; and means for creating a magnetic field in the region between the cathode and the anode, the magnetic field in said region having a component that is orthogonal to a component of the electric field between the anode and the cathode in an operating system.

Claim 12

An intense relativistic electron beam crossed-field magnetron device that comprises, in combination: a cylindrical field emission cathode capable of providing extremely high current densities of the order of kiloamperes per square centimenter; an anode which also serves as a slow wave structure, and anode being separated from the cathode by a vacuum region, said anode comprising a plurality of periodic, circumferentially spaced, radially oriented cavities distributed along a circular path; and means for creating a magnetic field in the region between the cathode and the anode, the magnetic field in said region having a component that is orthogonal to a component of the electric field between the anode and the cathode in an operating system.