High efficiency X-band TWT amplifiers

Summary form only given. We report on a research program to increase the efficiency of relativistic traveling wave amplifiers to >50%. The two stage amplifier consists of a bunching periodic structure with phase velocity and a decelerating section with phase velocity significantly lower than the beam velocity. The position of the decelerating stage with respect to the bunching stage is chosen such that the narrowest bunches are sustained in the decelerating field for the longest possible time before significant debunching occurs. Two schemes are under investigation. In the first scheme, a resistive sever is placed between the two stages to suppress temporal phenomena. In the second scheme, the bunching and decelerating stages merge into each other by a gradual change in the iris radius over a wavelength. An absorbing section in this case is placed before the start of the bunching stage.