Wideband RF Structure for Millimeter Wave TWTs

LANL has developed a new vane loaded waveguide RF structure for a sheet electron beam traveling wave tube (TWT). The goal was to create a new class of wideband RF structures that allow simple mechanical fabrication and have geometry suitable for interaction with sheet electron beams. We have concentrated on structures at 94 GHz. We have achieved 6% bandwidth and believe that 10% is possible. We have performed 3D electromagnetic simulations using the codes Microwave Studio and HFSS, and fabricated several aluminium cold models of RF structures at 10GHz to confirm the design. Agreement between the 10 GHz cold test data and computer simulations was excellent. An RF structure at 94GHz was fabricated using electrical discharge machining (EDM) with a 0.004 inch wire and cold tested.