State-of-the-art of high power gyro-devices and free electron masers

At present, gyrotron oscillators are mainly used as high power millimeter wave sources for electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and diagnostics of magnetically confined plasmas for generation of energy by controlled thermonuclear fusion. 140 GHz gyrotrons with output power Pout = 0.58 MW, pulse length τ = 2.0 s and efficiency η = 34% are commercially available. Diagnostic gyrotrons deliver Pout = 40 kW with τ = 40 μs at frequencies up to 650 GHz (η ≥ 4%). Recently, gyrotron oscillators have also been successfully used in material processing and plasma chemistry. Such technological applications require gyrotrons with the following parameters: f ≥ 28 GHz, Pout = 10-30 kW, CW, η ≥ 30%. This paper reports on achievements and problems related to the development of very high power mm-wave gyrotrons for long pulse or CW operation and describes the microwave technological pecularities of the different development steps. In addition, this work gives a short overview of the present development of gyrotrons for technological applications, quasi-optical gyrotrons, cyclotron autoresonance masers (CARMs), gyro-klystrons, gyro-TWT amplifiers, gyro-BWO's and free electron masers (FEMs). The most impressive FEM output parameters are: Pout = 2 GW, τ = 20 ns, η = 13% at 140 GHz (LLNL) and Pout = 15 kW, τ = 20 μs, η = 5% in the range from 120 to 900 GHz (UCSB). (orig.)