FREEELECTRONMASER ASA FREQUENCYAGILEMICROWAVE SOURCE

Mostmicrowave sources haveaverylimited operating frequency range without the useofmechanical tuning. Thisisbecause they tendtobeslowwavedevices withan internal structure which prevents widefrequency variation. Awaveguide free electron maserisafast wavedevice whichdoesnotsuffer fromthis limitation. Selection from awiderange ofoperating frequencies canbemadebysimply adjusting theoperating voltage. Thispaper reports thedevelopment ofareasonably lowcostfree electron maser(FEM)asasource forapplications requiring afrequency agile microwave powersource.