472 Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Vacuum Electron Devices

15.4 TWYSTRONS

The twystron is a hybrid device consisting of a klystron circuit for the input structure
and a fundamental forward-wave circuit for the output structure [21, 2]. To understand
the advantages of the hybrid device, it is helpful to review the limitations of klystrons and
traveling-wave tubes separately. The bandwidth of the klystron is determined mainly by
the cavity Qs that depend on the maximum permissible loading. It is easier to obtain low
Qs in the driver section than in the output cavity because driver cavities may be loaded
heavily. Bandwidth limitations of the output gap are fundamental, and loading beyond
the optimum will result in reduced efficiency.
Traveling-wave tube circuits have broader bandwidths than klystron output cavities
although the difference becomes less pronounced at megawatt power levels. High-power
traveling wave circuits, however, are quite dispersive. The operating bandwidth over
which good efficiency can be realized is substantially wider than that over which
relatively flat gain characteristics may be achieved.
Figure 15-58 shows a schematic of a twystron amplifier. The traveling-wave output
circuit is selected primarily for its efficiency and bandwidth. A stagger-tuned multicavity
klystron driver section is then designed to provide a gain response complementary to that
of the input. The end result of the combination is a relatively flat gain response over the
available efficiency bandwidth of the output circuit.

Figure 15-58 Klystron and traveling-wave parts of a twystron amplifier. (From: Linear Beam
Tubes, Internal Varian Report by Armand Staprans.)
 Coupled-Cavity TWTs 473
To help increase the bandwidth of a twystron, a high-perveance beam is used to
provide strong beam loading. With this circuit and beam combination, the low gain of the
TWT section at band edges is offset by the relatively high gain of the
stagger-tuned-klystron driver section. The overall result, as Figure 15-59 indicates, can be
a very flat gain over a bandwidth of up to 15%. The resulting power output as a function
of frequency is also very flat, as shown in Figure 15-61. Twystrons with peak-power
outputs up to at least 10 MW have been built. Average powers over 30 kW are available
and can be increased about an order of magnitude before circuit losses and interception
present fundamental limitations.

Figure 15-59 The gain of a twystron amplifier. (From: Microwave Tube Manual by Varian, Air
Force Publication No. T.O.00-25-251, 1979.)

Figure 15-60 The power output for twystron amplifier VA-146E.

474 Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Vacuum Electron Devices
The VA-144 twystron shown in Figure 15-61 was developed for the ballistic missile
early warning system. Two of these tubes operating in parallel were used in the missile
site radar (MSR) in North Dakota in the 1970s–1990s. The VA-144 operated at 150 kV
and used a modulating anode for beam control. The power capability of this tube is not
known, however, it was high enough to “melt the telephones and the insulation on cables”
in the anechoic test facility at the MSR. The reported cost of these tubes was $750,000
each in 1970 dollars.

Figure 15-61 Varian VA-144 twystron.

15.5 CURNOW-GITTINS EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT

From the very early days of coupled-cavity TWTs, equivalent circuits have been used to
help explain the operation of slow wave structures. The most successful of these
equivalent circuits have been those described by Curnow [18, 19] and Gittins [20]
published over 50 years ago. The development of these circuits is based on an
examination of the current paths in a cavity. In a cavity without coupling apertures,
current is distributed uniformly as indicated in Figure 15-62(a). Current flows back and
forth from one side of the cavity gap to the other through the cavity walls. The gap is the
capacitive portion of the cavity, Cc, and the walls are the inductive portion, Lc, and so
the equivalent circuit is in Figure 15-62(b). The resonant frequency is fc.
When coupling slots are placed in the cavity walls, some of the current paths are
intercepted (Figure 15-63). In general, there can be four types of current paths:
 Coupled-Cavity TWTs 475
1. I1 between drift tube tips;
2. I2 between the left coupling slot and the right drift tube tip;
3. I3 between the left drift tube tip and the right coupling slot;
4. I4 between coupling slots.

Figure 15-62 Current paths and the equivalent circuit for a cavity without coupling slots.

Figure 15-63 (a) Cavity currents used to define the inductance for the equivalent circuit, and (b)
the equivalent circuit for a slot.

The equivalent circuit to represent this distribution of currents can be constructed by

dividing the cavity inductance, Lc, into four parts:
476 Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Vacuum Electron Devices
1. Lc/p, where p is the fraction of the current not involved in coupling;
2. 2Lc/k, where k is the fraction involved in coupling to the following cavity;
3. 2Lc/k, where k is the fraction involved in coupling to the preceding cavity;
4. Lc/n, where n is the fraction involved in coupling both ways.

Here, it has been assumed, as is usually the case, that the two coupling slots are the
same. The total of the four currents is the total cavity current and so
p+k +n = 1 (15-1)
The coupling slots can be represented as parallel resonant circuits with resonant
frequency fs, as shown in Figure 15-63(b). Thus, the cavity with all of its equivalent
circuit elements is as shown in Figure 15-64. The generalized equivalent circuit
derived from this cavity is in Figure 15-65.

Figure 15-64 Equivalent circuit elements of a cavity.

Once the equivalent circuit model with appropriate component values has been
established for a coupled-cavity structure, the analysis of the interaction with the beam
can be carried out. The steps of the analysis are conceptually the same as those used by
Gittins in the vector diagram description of coupled-cavity TWT operation [20]. That is,
the electron beam induces current into the appropriate elements (cavity gaps) of the
equivalent circuit and the electric field of the circuit excites current and velocity
modulation of the beam. The shapes of the electric fields of the circuit and the space-
charge fields in the beam must be accurately determined so that the analysis can
properly predict tube performance.
 Coupled-Cavity TWTs 477

Figure 15-65 The equivalent circuit for a cavity.

Figure 15-66 is a typical ω-β diagram that can be constructed from the results of
Curnow-Gittins analysis. The solid curves are the ω-β characteristics derived for one
midcavity-to-midcavity cell of the equivalent circuit for the entire coupled-cavity
structure. Because only one cell is used, results for other portions of the ω-β
characteristic, such as those shown by the dashed lines in Figure 15-66, are not obtained.
However, these can be inferred from the discussion of ω-β characteristics contained in
Chapter 13. Thus, the curves from π to 2π rad are simply mirror images of those from 0
to π rad. For the staggered-slot circuit, the lower dashed curve, which indicates forward-
wave interaction, is the ω-β characteristic that is needed.

Figure 15-66 The ω-β diagram for the equivalent circuit for the staggered-slot structure.
478 Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Vacuum Electron Devices
From the analysis, the impedance can be determined as shown in Figure 15-67. Note
that impedance goes to infinity at all cutoff frequencies except for the lower slot-band cutoff
frequency, where it is zero. For the values of constants used here, the impedance in the
cavity band where normal operation occurs is a few hundred ohms, which is higher than what
is normally encountered in staggered-slot TWTs.

Figure 15-67 Interaction impedance derived from the circuit model for the staggered-slot
structure.

REFERENCES

[1] J. T. Mendel, “Helix and coupled-cavity traveling wave tubes,” Proc. IEEE, Vol. 61, No. 3, March
1973, pp. 280–298.
[2] A. Staprans, E. W. McCune, and J. A. Ruetz, “High-power linear-beam tubes,” Proc. IEEE, Vol. 61,
No. 3, March 1973, pp. 299–330.
[3] B. G. James, U.S. Patent 3,668,460, “Coalesced mode coupled cavity slow wave tube,” June 6, 1972.
[4] A. Karp, and W. R. Ayers, “Design concepts for an octave bandwidth coupled-cavity TWT,”
Technical Digest, IEDM, 1978, pp. 546–549.
[5] J. R. Frey, and I. Tammaru, “A coupled-cavity TWT operating in the inverted slot mode,” Technical
Digest, IEDM, 1981, pp. 504–506
[6] Hughes Electron Dynamics Division, TWT/TWTA Handbook.
[7] B. G. James, “Coupled-cavity TWT designed for future mm-wave systems,” MSN Microwave
Systems News & Communications Technology, Vol. 16, No. 10, September 1986, pp. 105–116.
[8] C. Armstrong, “A compact extremely high frequency MPM power amplifier,” IEEE Trans. Electron
Devices, Vol. 65, No. 6, June 2018.