ECC3201

Microwave AND Antenna Theory Unit - 1

MICROWAVE TUBES
IEEE spectrum(Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
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Radio Frequency Spectrum
Electromagnetic Spectrum

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Low frequency and high frequency parameters

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 S parameter

• S-parameters (also called S-matrix or scattering parameters) represent the linear

characteristics of RF electronic circuits and components.

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• From the S-parameter matrix, you can calculate characteristics of linear networks such as gain,
loss, impedance, phase group delay, and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR).

• S-parameters are complex numbers (numbers with real and imaginary parts) that can be used
directly or in a matrix to show reflection/transmission characteristics (amplitude and
optionally phase) in the frequency domain.

• When a complex time-varying signal is passed through a linear network, the amplitude and
phase shifts can dramatically distort the time-domain waveform.

• Therefore both amplitude and phase information in the frequency domain are important. S-
parameters are the parameter that supports both information and has many advantages for
high-frequency device characterization.
OUTLINE

1. Introduction of Microwaves

2. High frequency limitation of conventional tubes

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 3. Types of Microwave tubes

4. Reflex klystron-Mechanism of operation

5. Mode of oscillation

6. Power output and Efficiency

Microwaves

• Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves

 wavelengths ranging from few cm to mm

 frequencies ranging from 1GHz to 1000 GHz

• Advantage
Power requirement is very less compared to LF signals
Larger Bandwidth : The band width of microwaves is larger than the low frequency signals -
more information can be transmitted using single carrier
Improved directive properties
Less Fading effect and more reliable
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 Applications Of Microwaves
• Wireless Communications (space, cellular phones, cordless phones, WLANs, Bluetooth,
satellites etc.)
• Radar and Navigation (Airborne,vehicle, weather radars, GPS etc.)
• Remote sensing (Meteorology, mining, land surface, aviation and marine traffic etc.)
• RF Identification (Security, product tracking, animal tracking, toll collection etc.)
• Broadcasting (AM,FM radio, TV etc.)
• Heating (Baking, Food process, Ovens, Drying, Mining, rubber industry)
• Bio-medical application(Diagnostics)

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 Advantages and disadvantages of microwave

High Frequency Limitations of Conventional

Tubes
• Conventional tubes fails to operate above 1 GHz.Reasons:

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(1) Transit Time effect
 The time taken by an electron to travel from cathode to anode

(2) stray reactance

 Due to lead wire
inductance and Inter-
electrode capacitance
Solution to this
problem??

is

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 Microwave Tubes
Klystron
Traveling Wave Tube
Magnetron

REFLEX KLYSTRON

Reflex Klystron oscillator

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 Mechanism of operation

 A reflex klystron consists of an electron gun, an accelerating grid, a single re-entrant cavity and a
repeller plate

 Electrons are emitted from cathode’K’ is accelerated by the grid ‘G’ and passes through the
cavity anode A to the repeller space

 Due to DC energy, RF noise is generated in the cavity

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  Electrons passing through cavity gap experiences Velocity Modulation
Mechanism of operation

• The electrons
‘a’ which encountered the positive half cycle of the RF field in the cavity gap d will be
accelerated,
‘b’ which encountered zero RF field will pass with unchanged original velocity, and
‘c’ which encountered the negative half cycle will be decelerated on entering the repeller space.

• All these velocity modulated electrons will be repelled back to the cavity by the repeller due to
the negative potential.
Mechanism of operation

• The repeller distance L and the repeller voltage can be adjusted to receive all the electrons at a
same time on the positive peak of the cavity RF cycle.

• Thus the velocity modulated electrons are bunched together and lose their kinetic energy when
they encounter the positive peak of the cavity RF field.
 This loss of energy is transferred to the cavity to conserve total power.
 When power delivered by the electrons is equal to the power loss in the cavity- Microwave
oscillation is started
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 Mode of Oscillation

• These bunched electrons deliver maximum power at any instant of positive peak of RF cycle

• If T is the time period at the resonant frequency, to is the time taken by the reference electron to
travel in the repeller space between entering the repeller space and returning to the cavity
at positive peak voltage on formation of the bunch
Then, to = (n + ¾)T = NT
Where N = n + ¾, n = 0,1,2,3…….
N – mode of oscillation
The Power output of lowest mode?
is Maximum
Analysis of Reflex Klystron:

• Velocity Modulation

• Transit time

• Density Modulation and beam current

• Power output

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• Efficiency
Velocity modulation

Basic assumptions:

• Cavity grid and repeller plate are parallel and large

• No RF field is excited in repeller space

• No electron interception by the cavity anode grid

• No debunching action in the cavity space

• V1<<V0
Performance Characteristics

1. Frequency: 2– 200 GHz

2. Power: 10 mW – 2.5 W

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3. Theoretical efficiency : 22.78 %

4. Practical efficiency : 10 % - 20 %

5. Tuning range : 5 GHz at 2 W – 30 GHz at 10

mW

Applications
 The reflex klystrons are used in
1. Radar receivers
2. Local oscillator in microwave receivers
3. Portable microwave links
4. Pump oscillator in parametric amplifier

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 Two cavity Klystron

• Klystron amplifiers are used in a variety of industries, including satellite systems, television
broadcasting, radar, particle accelerators, and in the medical field. In this article, we'll learn
about the two-cavity klystron's unique build and the concept of electron bunching.
• The klystron is a device for amplifying microwave frequency signals that achieve high levels of
power gain by applying vacuum tube principles and the concept of “electron bunching”.
Klystrons are used in satellite systems, television broadcast, and radar, as well as particle
accelerators and medicine.
• The klystron was invented by the brothers Russell and Sigurd Varian at Stanford University. Their
prototype was completed and demonstrated successfully on August 30, 1937.

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• Klystrons can be used in the UHF region (300 MHz to 3 GHz) up to 400 GHz. There are several
flavors of klystron amplifiers. One major type is the reflex klystron, which is used primarily as an
oscillator.
• For this article, however, we will focus on another popular type: the twocavity klystron.
• Two-Cavity Klystron Geometry
• The two-cavity klystron utilizes an electron source (heater), an anode, and a cathode like a
conventional vacuum tube. It also utilizes a collector element at the end of the electron stream.
The heater boils off electrons when heated and the electrons are ejected from the cathode and
accelerate towards the anode due to the high dc potential between the two elements. A
focused beam of electrons is thus produced.
• In the case of the two-cavity klystron, the electron beam passes through a central hole in the first
toroid-shaped cavity and through a similar second cavity, terminating at the collector.
• On each side of the cavity hole is a grid that the electrons pass through. It is the interaction of the
cavities with the beam that provides the high levels of amplification that the device can
produce.

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 a) Resonant cavity; b) Equivalent in
pseudo electrical form; c) Equivalent circuit; d) Frequency response.

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• This can also be shown as a resonant tank circuit with the parallel region the capacitor and
the circular part a single turn inductor as shown in Figure 2b and 2c.
• The cavity can be made to resonate at a narrow frequency range (Figure 2d), defined by its
geometry, of course. The central part of the structure acts like a capacitor with a hole in it
which is where the electron beam can pass through. This capacitor and thus the charge
applied to anything passing through the central hole will flip charge at the resonant
frequency.
• From an electrical perspective, the capacitance and inductance define the electrical resonant
frequency of the structure. An exciting signal is fed into the resonator externally via a coax
connection shown at the top of Figure 2a. This coax connection excites the cavity at the
resonant frequency.
• Electron Bunching
• The klystron utilizes a phenomenon called electron bunching which goes as follows:
• Electrons in a beam leaving a source at high velocity all have a roughly equal velocity in the
direction of travel. With no applied interaction along the path, the electrons in the beam will
continue this way until terminating at the collector. If, however, there exists a structure along
the path that can oppose the movement of the electrons, it can cause some of them to
reduce their velocity. This occurs when the left side grid is negative.
• The grid’s negative charge pushes back on the electrons as they pass through the negative left
grid slowing them down. As they pass through the space between grids and past the
rightmost positive grid, the electrons are further slowed down by the positive grid as it pulls
on them as they exit the opening.

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• On the opposite electrical cycle of the plates, the electrons encounter a positive grid initially,
which pulls on them and accelerates them through the buncher grids. The now negative
rightmost grid pushes them faster as it repels them on exit.
• Imagine you are an electron going through the buncher and you are slowed down by the
buncher. You would be cruising along and gently slowing down so all the other electrons
around you would be spreading out (in the direction of travel). Life is good—lots of room up
front. But wait! A whole bunch of electrons behind you got accelerated to a higher velocity
and now they are catching up to you as you slow down into them! Now we are in a big bunch
traveling down the drift space.

• The result is a density modulation or bunching proportional to the applied force on the
electrons as imparted by the buncher resonant cavity (does that start to sound useful?). The
end result is effectively an RFmodulated current (current is just charge flow over time, after
all) between the buncher and the catcher.

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 Application

 As power output tubes

1. in UHF TV transmitters

2. in troposphere scatter transmitters

3. satellite communication ground station

4. radar transmitters

 As power oscillator (5 – 50 GHz), if used as a klystron oscillator

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TRAVELING-WAVE TUBE (TWT)

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 Travelling Wave Tube

• For Broadband amplifier helix TWTs (proposed by Pierce and others in 1946 ) are widely used

• For High average power purposes the coupled cavity TWTs are used
 Cutaway view of a HELIX TWT

1. Electron Gun

2. RF input

3. Magnets

4. Attenuator

5. Helix Coil
6. RF Output

7. Vacuum tube

8. Collector
Electron Gun: produces and then accelerates an electron beam along the axis of the tube.

The surrounding static magnet provides a magnetic field along the axis of the tube to focus the
electrons into a tight beam.

A longitudinal helix slow wave non-resonant guide is placed at the centre of the tube that provides
a low impedance transmission line for the RF energy within the tube.
The TWT is designed with helix delay structure to slow the travelling wave down to or below the
speed to the electrons in the beam.

The RF signal wave injected at the input end of the helix travels down the helix wire at the speed of the
light but the coiled shape causes the wave to travel a much greater distance than the electron beam.
Changing the number of turns or diameter of the turns in the helix wire, the speed at which RF signal
wave travels in the form of axial E field, can be varied.

DC beam velocity of the beam is maintained slightly greater than that of the axial field.

The helical delay structure has the added advantage of causing a large proportion of electric fields that
are parallel to the electron beam, provides maximum interaction between the fields and the moving
electrons to form bunching.
Velocity modulation
The electrons entering the helix at zero field are not affected by the signal wave; those electrons
entering the helix at the accelerating field are accelerated, and those at the retarding field are
deccelerated.

This velocity modulation causes bunching of electrons at regular intervals of one wavelength.
As the bunches release energy to the signal on the helix, amplification begins.

This amplified signal causes a denser electron bunch which in turn amplifies the signal even more.
This process continues as the RF wave and the electron beam travel down the length of the tube.
When the loss in the system is compensated by this enrgy transfer, a steady ammplification of the
microwave signal appears at the output end.
Beam velocity greater than field velocity?
As the dc velocity of the beam is maintained by slightly greater than the phase velocity of the travelling
wave, more electrons face the retarding field than the accelerating field, and a great amount of kinetic
energy is transferred from the beam to the electromagnetic field.
Thus the field amplitude increases forming a more compact bunch and a large amplification
of the signal voltage appears at the output of the helix.
Why attenuator?
An attenuator is placed over a part of the helix on midway to attenuate any reflected waves generated
due to the impedance mismatch.

It is placed after sufficient length of the interaction region so that the attenuation of the amplified signal
is insignificant compared to the amplification.
Specifications
Frequency Range: 3 GHz and higher
Bandwidth: about 0.8 GHz
Efficiency: 20 to 40%
Power Output: up to 10kW average
Power gain: up to 60dB
Comparison of TWTA and Klystron Amplifier

Klystron Amplifier TWTA

1. Linear beam or 1. Linear beam or ‘O’

‘O’ type Device type device

2. Uses Resonant cavities 2. Uses non resonant for input and output wave circuits circuits

3. Narrowband device 3.Wideband device

Applications

Medium – power satellite

Higher – power satellite transponder output.
• A magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates non consistent microwaves
with built-in resonators or by special oscillators or solid-state devices to control the
frequency.

• The electromagnetic energy created from a magnetron can travel at the speed of light
and is the same type of energy used in radio and television broadcasting.
•
CONSTRUCTION

APPLICATIONS

ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES
CONSTRUCTION & OPERATION
 B

E
As shown in the figure, a cavity magnetrons consist of a hot filament (cathode) kept at, or pulsed to,
a high negative potential by a high-voltage, direct-current power supply. The cathode is built into
the center of an evacuated, lobed, circular chamber.
A magnetic field parallel to the filament is imposed by a electro-magnet. The magnetic field causes
the electrons, attracted to the (relatively) positive outer part of the chamber, to spiral outward in a
circular path rather than moving directly to this anode.
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• Spaced around the rim of the chamber are cylindrical cavities. The cavities are open along their
length and connect the common cavity space. As electrons sweep past these openings, they
induce a resonant, high-frequency radio field in the cavity, which in turn causes the electrons
to bunch into groups.

• A portion of this field is extracted with a short antenna that is connected to a waveguide (a
metal tube usually of rectangular cross section). The waveguide directs the extracted RF
energy to the load, which may be a cooking chamber in a microwave oven or a high-gain
antenna in the case of radar.
 APPLICATIONS

In radar devices the

• RADAR waveguide is connected
to an antenna. The magnetron is
operated with very short pulses of
applied voltage, resulting in a
short pulse of high power
microwave energy being radiated.
As in all radar systems, the
radiation reflected off a target is
analyzed to produce a radar map
on a screen.

APPLICATIONS
In microwave ovens the waveguide leads to a radio frequency-
 • HEATING

transparent port into the cooking chamber. It is important that

there is food in the oven when it is operated so that these
waves are absorbed, rather than reflecting into the waveguide
where the intensity of standing waves can cause arcing. The
arcing, if allowed to occur for long periods, will destroy the
magnetron.
• LIGHTING

APPLICATIONS
In microwave-excited lighting
systems, such as Sulphur Lamps, a
magnetron provides the microwave
field that is passed through a
waveguide to the lighting cavity
containing the lightemitting
substance (e.g. Sulfur, metal halides
etc.)
 HISTORY

• The oscillation of magnetrons was first observed and noted by Augustin Žáček, professor at
the Charles University, Prague in the Czech Republic.

• The first magnetron developed was the two-pole magnetron, also known as a split-anode
magnetron, which had relatively low efficiency. The cavity version (properly referred to as a
resonant-cavity magnetron) proved to be far more useful.
ADVANTAGES

• The magnetron is a fairly efficient device. In a microwave oven, for instance, an 1100 watt
input will generally create about 700 watts of microwave energy, an efficiency of around 65%.

• The combination of the small-cavity magnetron, small antennas, and high resolution allowed
small, high quality radars to be installed in aircraft.
DISADVANTAGES

• They are costly and hence limited in use.

 • Although cavity magnetron are used because they generate a wide range of frequencies ,
the frequency is not precisely controllable.

• The use in radar itself has reduced to some extent, as more accurate signals have
generally been needed and developers have moved to klystron and traveling-wave tube
systems for accurate frequencies.
HAZARDS due to microwave radiations

of eye has no cooling blood flow, it is particularly prone to overheating when exposed to
microwave radiation. This
 heating can in turn lead to a higher incidence of cataracts in later life.
Biological effects of microwaves

 A part of radiofrequency (RF) radiation, which covers 0.5 MHz to 300 GHz range produces
adverse biological effects.

Ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation

 Ionization is a process - electrons are stripped from atoms and molecules and this can
produce molecular changes that can lead to damage in biological tissue, including effects on
DNA, the genetic material.

 The energy levels associated with RF and microwave radiations are not great enough to
cause the ionization of atoms and molecules, therefore, it is a type of non-ionizing radiation.

Non ionizing radiation

 Microwave energy is non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation.

 Ionizing radiation messes up molecules, non-ionizing radiation merely heats them.

 In general, it does not have sufficient energy to kick an electron off an atom thus producing
charged particle in a body and cause biological damage.
 The only proven harmful effect from exposure to microwave (or RF) radiation is thermal.

 RF radiation can enter deep into the body and heat human organs.
Effect of microwaves in human body

 The blood vessels are dilating and the blood flow increases substantially as the
thermoregulatory mechanism is activated in order to keep the body temperature
constant.With rising body temperature the metabolic rate rises, which may lead to
Stress-Adaptation-Fatigue Syndrome.

effects produced by the electromagnetic waves at different frequency level

 Above 10 GHz (3 cm wavelength or less) heating occurs mainly in the outer skin surface.

 From 3 GHz to 10 GHz (10 cm to 3 cm) the penetration is deeper and heating higher

 From 150 MHz to about 1 GHz (200 cm to 25 cm wavelength), penetration is even deeper
and because of high absorption, deep body heating can occur.
 Any part of the body that cannot dissipate heat efficiently or is heat sensitive may be
damaged by microwave radiation of sufficient power.
Effects of Microwave energy
Power level
(mW /cm2)
Long-term effect on human body Remarks

0.01 Nothing

0.1 Nothing

1 Nothing

5 Nothing Accepted standard for microwave oven leakage

10 Nothing Accepted standard for maximum continuous exposure to radiated emissions (cell
phones, etc.)

30 You can feel heat

100 Cataracts can be produced Summer sunlight is at this level

1000 Pain is induced