Solid state power amplifier as 805 MHz master source for the LANSCE coupled-cavity linac

From 100 to 800 MeV, the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) proton linac receives RF power from forty-four 1.25 MW klystrons at 805 Megahertz (MHz). A single master RF source provides a continuous high level phase reference signal which drives the klystrons along the 731 meter-long linac through a coaxial transmission line. A single point failure of this system can deenergize the entire coupled-cavity linac (CCL) RF plant. The authors replaced a physically large air-cooled tetrode amplifier with a compact water-cooled unit based on modular amplifier pallets developed at LANSCE. Each 600 Watt pallet utilizes eight push-pull bipolar power transistor pairs operated in class AB. Four of these can easily provide the 2000 watt reference carrier from the stable master RF source. A radial splitter and combiner parallels the modules. This amplifier has proven to be completely reliable after two years of operation without failure. A second unit was constructed and installed for redundancy, and the old tetrode system was removed in 1998. The compact packaging for cooling, DC power, impedance matching, RF interconnection, and power combining met the electrical and mechanical requirements. CRT display of individual collector currents and RF levels is made possible with built-in samplers and a VXI data acquisition unit