Klystron

A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian, which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequencies, from UHF up into the microwave range. Low-power klystrons are used as oscillators in terrestrial microwave relay communications links, while high-power klystrons are used as output tubes in UHF television transmitters, satellite communication, radar transmitters, and to generate the drive power for modern particle accelerators. A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian, which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequencies, from UHF up into the microwave range. Low-power klystrons are used as oscillators in terrestrial microwave relay communications links, while high-power klystrons are used as output tubes in UHF television transmitters, satellite communication, radar transmitters, and to generate the drive power for modern particle accelerators. In a klystron, an electron beam interacts with radio waves as it passes through resonant cavities, metal boxes along the length of a tube. The electron beam first passes through a cavity to which the input signal is applied. The energy of the electron beam amplifies the signal, and the amplified signal is taken from a cavity at the other end of the tube. The output signal can be coupled back into the input cavity to make an electronic oscillator to generate radio waves. The gain of klystrons can be high, 60 dB (one million) or more, with output power up to tens of megawatts, but the bandwidth is narrow, usually a few percent although it can be up to 10% in some devices. A reflex klystron is an obsolete type in which the electron beam was reflected back along its path by a high potential electrode, used as an oscillator. The name klystron comes from the Greek verb κλύζω (klyzo) referring to the action of waves breaking against a shore, and the suffix -τρον ('tron') meaning the place where the action happens. The name 'klystron' was suggested by Hermann Fränkel, a professor in the classics department at Stanford University when the klystron was under development. The klystron was the first significantly powerful source of radio waves in the microwave range; before its invention the only sources were the Barkhausen-Kurz tube and split anode magnetron, which were limited to very low power. It was invented by the brothers Russell and Sigurd Varian at Stanford University. Their prototype was completed and demonstrated successfully on August 30, 1937. Upon publication in 1939, news of the klystron immediately influenced the work of US and UK researchers working on radar equipment. The Varians went on to found Varian Associates to commercialize the technology (for example, to make small linear accelerators to generate photons for external beam radiation therapy). Their work was preceded by the description of velocity modulation by A. Arsenjewa-Heil and Oskar Heil (wife and husband) in 1935, though the Varians were probably unaware of the Heils' work. The work of physicist W.W. Hansen was instrumental in the development of the klystron and was cited by the Varian brothers in their 1939 paper. His resonator analysis, which dealt with the problem of accelerating electrons toward a target, could be used just as well to decelerate electrons (i.e., transfer their kinetic energy to RF energy in a resonator). During the second World War, Hansen lectured at the MIT Radiation labs two days a week, commuting to Boston from Sperry Gyroscope Company on Long Island. His resonator was called a 'rhumbatron' by the Varian brothers. Hansen died of beryllium disease in 1949 as a result of exposure to beryllium oxide (BeO). During the Second World War, the Axis powers relied mostly on (then low-powered and long wavelength) klystron technology for their radar system microwave generation, while the Allies used the far more powerful but frequency-drifting technology of the cavity magnetron for much shorter-wavelength one centimeter microwave generation. Klystron tube technologies for very high-power applications, such as synchrotrons and radar systems, have since been developed. Right after the war, AT&T used 4 watt klystrons in its brand new network of microwave relay links that covered the US continent. The network provided long distance telephone service and also carried television signals for the major TV networks. Western Union Telegraph Company also built point-to-point microwave communication links using intermediate repeater stations at about 40 mile intervals at that time, using 2K25 reflex klystrons in both the transmitters and receivers. Klystrons amplify RF signals by converting the kinetic energy in a DC electron beam into radio frequency power. In a vacuum, a beam of electrons is emitted by a electron gun or thermionic cathode (a heated pellet of low work function material), and accelerated by high-voltage electrodes (typically in the tens of kilovolts).