Investigation of beam parameters to design plasma filled BWO

Plasma assisted devices are unique source for microwave radiation [1]. The Plasma assisted BWO is a novel combination of plasma cathode electron-gun (PCE gun) and plasma filled slow-wave structure to produce microwave radiation. In Plasma-assisted microwave generator the electron beam exhibits two dimensional motions in the slow wave structure. In these devices, the beam self electrostatic fields, which play a destructive role in the beam transport, can largely be compensated by ions. The electron beam propagates in the ion-focusing regime (Bennett pinch)[2], which eliminates the requirement of external magnetic field. For efficient operation of these devices it is important to know the dynamics of beam generated by plasma cathode electron gun. The present work deals with the results of simulated studies of stationary and non stationary effects in the beam dynamics in X- band plasma assisted BWO and their theoretical interpretation. The simulation of the slow wave structure (SWS) has been done using different CAD tools for designing the plasma assisted BWO. The simulation has been performed for analysis of beam dynamics in the periodically rippled SWS in cylindrical form. A series of experiments has been performed for generating high intensity electron beam [3] from PCE gun under different operating condition. The particle in cell code has been used to investigate the different beam parameters. Comparative measurement for beam energy at different locations in drift region has also been performed experimentally.