A 250-GHz CARM (Cyclotron Auto Resonance Maser) oscillator experiment driven by an induction linac

A 250-GHz Cyclotron Auto Resonance Maser (CARM) oscillator has been designed and constructed and will be tested using a 1-kA, 2-MeV electron beam produced by the induction linac at the Accelerator Research Center (ARC) facility of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The oscillator circuit was made to operate in the TE{sub 11} mode at ten times cutoff using waveguide Bragg reflectors to create an external cavity Q of 8000. Theory predicts cavity fill times of less than 30 ns (pulse length) and efficiencies approaching 20% is sufficiently low transverse electron velocity spreads are maintained (2%).