Initial operation of a wideband gyro-TWT amplifier

Stable operation of a dielectric-loaded wideband gyro-TWT is experimentally demonstrated. For a 100 kV, 5 A, /spl alpha/=/spl upsisub /spl perpspl upsisub Z/=0.6 electron beam, a peak output power of 55 kW with 11% efficiency, 27 dB saturated gain and an unprecedented constant-drive bandwidth of 11% has been achieved in the X-band frequency proof-of-principle experiment. As predicted by simulation studies, the amplifier's performance can be further enhanced with improved beam quality. >