Performance of a small, graphite electrode, multistage depressed collector with a 500-W, continuous wave, 4.8- to 9.6-GHz traveling wave tube

A small, isotropic graphite multistage depressed collector (MDC) and a short permanent magnet refocuser were designed, fabricated, and evaluated in conjunction with a 500-W, continuous-wave (CW), 4.8 to 9.6 GHz traveling wave tube (TWT). A novel performance optimization system and technique were used to optimize the TWT-MDC performance for saturated broad-band operation. The MDC performance was evaluated in both four- and three-stage configurations. Average TWT overall and four-stage collector efficiencies of 43.8 and 82.6 percent, respectively, were obtained for saturated octave-bandwidth operation. The isotropic graphite electrode material performed well, and shows considerable promise. However, considerably more test experience is required before definitive conclusions on its suitability for space and airborne TWT's can be made.