Technological Advancement in Plasma Assisted Microwave Source at CSIR-CEERI

A pseudospark discharge is a viable possibility for plasma assisted microwave source development due to the emitted linear beam characteristics, such as, high current density and high brightness as well as self-focusing during its propagation. The pseudospark discharge based single gap plasma cathode electron (PCE) gun, multi-gap PCE-Gun and sheet beam PCE-Gun have already been developed. The X-band slow wave structure (SWS) for beamwave interaction has been designed, developed and characterized which operates in the range of 8.5 -9.7 GHz. The conical horn antenna has been designed and characterized for spent beam collection. The assembly of the SWS with conical horn antenna for generation of microwave signal has also been developed. The design parameters have been optimized accordingly for efficient microwave generation. The design and technology establishment would lead to test an integrated plasma assisted microwave source at CSIR-CEERI.