Effective suppression of pulse shortening in a relativistic backward wave oscillator

This paper discusses pulse shortening present in a C-band relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO). Effects of the collector plasma are believed to be the main cause. This viewpoint is first verified in numerical simulation. The simulation results show that light charged particles such as hydrogen ions in the collector plasma would axially enter into the beam-microwave interaction region and suppress high-power microwave (HPM) generation. Simultaneously, heavy charged particles such as oxygen or ferric ions in the collector plasma would radially expand out and change the end reflection of the RBWO. All these effects can result in pulse shortening. Simulations also demonstrate that a coaxial collector can effectively suppress plasma effects by retarding their axial and radial expansions. Furthermore, a HPM experiment has confirmed the validity of the coaxial collector. Using this structure, the output power of the RBWO has been increased from 2.5GW to 3GW. No pulse shortening has been observed in the HPM experiment. Published by AIP Publishing.