CARM AMPLIFIER DESIGNS FOR HIGH-POWER

The cyclotron autoresonance maser (CARM) is shown to be capable of extremely high power efficient operation with relatively weak magnetic field requirements. A general description of the CARM traveling wave amplifier is presented. The linear theory is applied to study the stability of the device and a self-consistent numerical simulation code is used to predict the performance. It is found that grazing intersection often gives superior performance, especially for high current electron beams. The designs of two CARM amplifiers for the applications of a high gradient rf linac and electron cyclotron resonance plasma heating as well as a proof of principle experiment are presented.