Chapter -3

Microwave tubes
 Microwave Tubes
• Used for high power/high frequency combination
• Tubes generate and amplify high levels of microwave
power more cheaply than solid state devices
• Conventional tubes can be modified for low capacitance
but specialized microwave tubes are also used
• Limitation of the conventional tubes
 conventional tubes like triodes, tetrodes and pentodes
suffer from the following limitations, when they are
used as oscillator or amplifier component at microwave
frequency, either the gain drops or out put of oscillator
falls quickly with rise in frequency.
Conventional Device tubes cannot be used for
frequencies above 100MHz
These limitations are due to the following frequency:
i. transit time effect
ii. Inter electrode capacitance
iii. Lead inductance effect
iv. Gain Bandwidth limitation
v. Effect of RF losses (Conductance, dielectric)
vi. Effect due to radiation losses
 Microwave power tubes span a wide range of
applications, operating at frequencies from 300 MHz
to 300 GHz with output powers from a few hundred
watts to more than 10MW.
 Cont…
 The following devices are included under the general
description of microwave power tubes:
• Two cavity Klystron
• Reflex Klystron
• multicavity klystron
• Traveling wave tube (TWT)
• magnetron as well as UHF tubes
• Backward wave oscillator
• Multistage depressed collector (MSDC) klystron
• Inductive output tube (IOT)
• Crossed-field tube
• Gyrotron
• Planar triode
• High-frequency tetrode
• Diacrode
 Cont…
 This wide variety of microwave devices has been developed
to meet a broad range of applications. Some common uses
include:
• UHF-TV transmission
• Shipboard and ground-based radar
• Weapons guidance systems
• Electronic countermeasure (ECM) systems
• Satellite communications
• Troposphere scatter communications
 Two principal classes of microwave vacuum devices are in
common use today:
• Linear-beam tubes
• Crossed-field tubes
 Linear-beam tubes
• In a linear-beam tube, the electron beam and the circuit elements
with which it interacts are arranged linearly.
• In such a device, a voltage applied to an anode accelerates
electrons drawn from a cathode, creating a beam of kinetic
energy.
• Power supply potential energy is converted to kinetic energy in
the electron beam as it travels toward the microwave circuit.
• A portion of this kinetic energy is transferred to microwave
energy as RF waves slow down the electrons.
• The remaining beam energy is either dissipated as heat or
returned to the power supply at the collector.
• Because electrons will repel one another, there usually is an
applied magnetic focusing field to maintain the beam during the
interaction process.
• The magnetic field is supplied either by a solenoid or permanent
Crossed-field tubes
• The magnetron is the pioneering device of the
family of crossed-field tubes.
• the physical appearance differs from that of linear-
beam tubes, which are usually circular in format,
• the major difference is in the interaction physics
that requires a magnetic field at right angles to the
applied electric field.
• Whereas the linear-beam tube sometimes requires a
magnetic field to maintain the beam, the crossed-
field tube always requires a magnetic focusing
field.
 klystrons

• The klystron is a linear-beam device that overcomes the

transit-time limitations of a grid-controlled tube by
accelerating an electron stream to a high velocity before
it is modulated.
• Modulation is accomplished by varying the velocity of
the beam, which causes the drifting of electrons into
bunches to produce RF space current.
• The output cavity acts as a transformer to couple the
high-impedance beam to a low-impedance transmission
line.
• It is a vacuum tube that can be used either as a
generator( oscillator) or amplifier of power at
microwave frequency which uses the principle of velocity
modulation to achieve bunching of electrons in a tube.
• Used in high-power amplifiers
• Electron beam moves down tube past several cavities.
• Input cavity is the buncher, output cavity is the
catcher.
• Buncher modulates the velocity of the electron beam
 There are two basic configurations of klystron tubes
1. Reflex Klystron used as a low-power Microwave
oscillator
2. Multi cavity klystron used as low-power microwave
amplifier
• Electrons beam is emitted from the cathode, when heated
sufficiently by the heating coil.
• Emitted electrons are focused by the focusing anode which
is infused by the magnetic field.
• Focused electrons pass through the tube towards the
collector.
• The RF i/p applied at the bucher cavity and the RF o/p is
taken from the catcher cavity
 VELOCITY MODULATION

• Electric field from microwaves at buncher alternately

speeds and slows electron beam
•This causes electrons to bunch up
•Electron bunches at catcher induce microwaves with more
energy
•The cavities form a slow-wave structure
Cont…
 Principle two-cavity klystron
• Velocity modulated tube
• High velocity electron beam is generated by an electron
gun and sent down along a gas tube through an input
cavity (BUNCHER), drift space (FIELD FREE) and an
output cavity (CATCHER) to a collector electrode
anode.
• The anode is kept positive to receive the electrons,
while the output is taken from the tube via resonant
cavities with the aid of coupling loops
• Two grids of the buncher cavity are separated by a
small gap A while the two grids of the catcher cavity are
separated by a small gap B.
 Reflex Klystron
• The reflex klystron has been the most used
source of microwave power in laboratory
applications.
 REFLEX KLYSTRON
• Single Re-entrant cavity as a resonator.
• The electron beam emitted from the cathode is
accelerated by the grid and passes through the
cavity anode to the repeller space between the
cavity anode and the repeller electrode .
• The feedback required to maintain the oscillations
within the cavity is obtained by reversing electron
beam emitted from the cathode towards repeller
electrode and sending it back through the cavity.
Cont…
• The electrons in the beam are velocity
modulated before the beam passes through
the cavity the second time and give up the
energy to the cavity to maintain oscillations.
• This type of a Klystron is called a Reflex
Klystron because of the reflex action of the
electron beam.
 Performance Characteristics

1. Frequency: 4 – 200 GHz

2. Power: 1 mW – 2.5 W
3. Theoretical efficiency : 22.78 %
4. Practical efficiency : 10 % - 20 %
5. Tuning range : 5 GHz at 2 W – 30 GHz at 10 mW

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 Applications

As power output tubes

1. in UHF TV transmitters
2. in troposphere scatter transmitters
3. satellite communication ground station
4. radar transmitters
5. Radar receivers
6. Local oscillator in microwave receivers
7. Pump oscillator in parametric amplifier
 As power oscillator (5 – 50 GHz), if used as a
klystron oscillator
 Traveling-Wave Tube (TWT)
• Uses a helix as a slow-wave structure
• Microwaves input at cathode end of helix, output at anode
end
• Energy is transferred from electron beam to microwaves
• Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) is the most versatile
microwave RF power amplifiers.
• The main virtue of the TWT is its extremely wide band
width of operation.
Basic structure of a Traveling
Wave Tube (TWT)

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 Basic structure
 The basic structure of a TWT consists of a cathode and
filament heater plus an anode that is biased positively
to accelerate the electron beam forward and to focus it
into a narrow beam.
 The electrons are attracted by a positive plate called the
collector, which has given a high dc voltage.
 The length of the tube is usually many wavelengths at
the operating frequency.
 Surrounding the tube are either permanent magnets or
electromagnets that keep the electrons tightly focused
into a narrow beam.

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5. Repeater amplifier in wide band communication links
and long distance telephony.
 Advantages
1. TWT has extremely wide bandwidth. Hence, it can
be made to amplify signals from UHF to hundreds of
gigahertz.
2. Most of the TWT’s have a frequency range of
approximately 2:1 in the desired segment of the
microwave region to be amplified.
3. The TWT’s can be used in both continuous and
pulsed modes of operation with power levels up to
several thousands watts.

PH0101 Unit 2 Lecture 6 47

 Performance characteristics

1. Frequency of operation : 0.5 GHz – 95 GHz

2. Power outputs:
5 mW (10 – 40 GHz – low power TWT)
250 kW (CW) at 3 GHz (high power TWT)
10 MW (pulsed) at 3 GHz
3. Efficiency : 5 – 20 % ( 30 % with depressed
collector)

PH0101 Unit 2 Lecture 6 48

 MAGNETRON
The magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that
generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream
of electrons with a magnetic field.
High-power oscillator
Common in radar and microwave ovens
Cathode in center, anode around outside
Strong dc magnetic field around tube causes electrons
from cathode to spiral as they move toward anode
Current of electrons generates microwaves in cavities
around outside
 Slow-Wave Structure
• Magnetron has cavities all around the outside
• Wave circulates from one cavity to the next around
the outside
• Each cavity represents one-half period
• Wave moves around tube at a velocity much less than
that of light
• Wave velocity approximately equals electron velocity
 Duty Cycle
• Important for pulsed tubes like radar
transmitters
• Peak power can be much greater than average
power

Ton
D 
TT
Pavg  PP D
 Crossed-Field and Linear-Beam Tubes
• Magnetron is one of a number of crossed-field
tubes
– Magnetic and electric fields are at right angles
• Klystrons and Traveling-Wave tubes are
examples of linear-beam tubes
– These have a focused electron beam (as in a CRT)
Cont…
 Magnetrons provide microwave oscillations of
very high frequency.

Types of magnetrons

1. Negative resistance type

2. Cyclotron frequency type
3. Cavity type
 Description of types of magnetron
Negative resistance Magnetrons
 Make use of negative resistance between two anode
segments but have low efficiency and are useful only at
low frequencies (< 500 MHz).
Cyclotron frequency Magnetrons
 Depend upon synchronization between an alternating
component of electric and periodic oscillation of
electrons in a direction parallel to this field.
 Useful only for frequencies greater than 100 MHz.
Cavity Magnetrons
 Depend upon the interaction of electrons with a rotating
electromagnetic field of constant angular velocity.
 Provide oscillations of very high peak power and hence
are useful in radar applications
 Cavity Magnetrons

Fig (i) Major elements in the Magnetron oscillator

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Cavity Magnetron
56
Anode Assembly

57
 Construction

 Each cavity in the anode acts as an inductor having

only one turn and the slot connecting the cavity and
the interaction space acts as a capacitor.
 These two form a parallel resonant circuit and its
resonant frequency depends on the value of L of the
cavity and the C of the slot.
 The frequency of the microwaves generated by the
magnetron oscillator depends on the frequency of the
RF oscillations existing in the resonant cavities.

PH0101 Unit 2 Lecture 5 58

 Description
 Magnetron is a cross field device as the electric field
between the anode and the cathode is radial whereas the
magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet is axial.
 A high DC potential can be applied between the cathode
and anode which produces the radial electric field.
 Depending on the relative strengths of the electric and
magnetic fields, the electrons emitted from the cathode and
moving towards the anode will traverse through the
interaction space as shown in Fig. (iii).
 In the absence of magnetic field (B = 0), the electron travel
straight from the cathode to the anode due to the radial
electric field force acting on it, Fig (iii) a.

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Cavity Magnetrons

60
Fig (ii) Cross sectional view of the anode assembly

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63
64
 Description
 If the magnetic field strength is increased slightly, the lateral
force bending the path of the electron as given by the path
‘b’ in Fig. (iii).
 The radius of the path is given by, If the strength of the
magnetic field is made sufficiently high then the electrons
can be prevented from reaching the anode as indicated path
‘c’ in Fig. (iii)),
 The magnetic field required to return electrons back to the
cathode just grazing the surface of the anode is called the
critical magnetic field (Bc) or the cut off magnetic field.
 If the magnetic field is larger than the critical field (B > Bc),
the electron experiences a greater rotational force and may
return back to the cathode quite faster.

65
 Fig (iii) Electron trajectories in
the presence of crossed electric
and magnetic fields
(a) no magnetic field
(b) small magnetic field
(c) Magnetic field = Bc
(d) Excessive magnetic field

66
 Working
Fig (iv) Possible trajectory of electrons from cathode to anode in
an eight cavity magnetron operating in  mode

67
 Working
 The RF Oscillations of transient nature produced
when the HT is switched on, are sufficient to produce
the oscillations in the cavities, these oscillations are
maintained in the cavities reentrant feedback which
results in the production of microwaves.
 Reentrant feedback takes place as a result of
interaction of the electrons with the electric field of
the RF oscillations existing in the cavities.
 The cavity oscillations produce electric fields which
fringe out into the interaction space from the slots in
the anode structure, as shown in Fig (iv).
 Energy is transferred from the radial dc field to the RF
field by the interaction of the electrons with the
fringing RF field.

68
69
 Working
 Due to the oscillations in the cavities, the either sides of the
slots (which acts as a capacitor) becomes alternatively
positive and negative and hence the directions of the
electric field across the slot also reverse its sign
alternatively.
 At any instant the anode close to the spiraling electron goes
positive, the electrons gets retarded and this is because; the
electron has to move in the RF field, existing close to the
slot, from positive side to the negative side of the slot.
 In this process, the electron loses energy and transfer an
equal amount of energy to the RF field which retard the
spiraling electron.
 On return to the previous orbit the electron may reach the
adjacent section or a section farther away and transfer
energy to the RF field if that part of the anode goes positive
at that instant.
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 Working
 This electron travels in a longest path from cathode to the
anode as indicated by ‘a’ in Fig (iv), transferring the
energy to the RF field are called as favoured electrons
and are responsible for bunching effect and give up most
of its energy before it finally terminates on the anode
surface.
 An electron ‘b’ is accelerated by the RF field and instead
of imparting energy to the oscillations, takes energy from
oscillations resulting in increased velocity, such electrons
are called unfavoured electrons which do not participate
in the bunching process and cause back heating.
 Every time an electron approaches the anode “in phase”
with the RF signal, it completes a cycle. This
corresponds to a phase shift 2.
 For a dominant mode, the adjacent poles have a phase
difference of  radians, this called the  - mode. 71
Fig (v) Bunching of electrons in multicavity
magnetron

PH0101 Unit 2 Lecture 5 72

 Working

 At any particular instant, one set of alternate poles goes

positive and the remaining set of alternate poles goes
negative due to the RF oscillations in the cavities.
 AS the electron approaches the anode, one set of
alternate poles accelerates the electrons and turns back
the electrons quickly to the cathode and the other set
alternate poles retard the electrons, thereby transferring
the energy from electrons to the RF signal.
 This process results in the bunching of electrons, the
mechanism by which electron bunches are formed and
by which electrons are kept in synchronism with the RF
field is called phase focussing effect. electrons with the
fringing RF field.

73
 Working
 The number of bunches depends on the number of
cavities in the magnetron and the mode of oscillations,
in an eight cavity magnetron oscillating with  - mode,
the electrons are bunched in four groups as shown in
Fig (v).
 Two identical resonant cavities will resonate at two
frequencies when they are coupled together; this is due
to the effect of mutual coupling.
 Commonly separating the pi mode from adjacent
modes is by a method called strapping. The straps
consist of either circular or rectangular cross section
connected to alternate segments of the anode block.

74
 Performance Characteristics

1. Power output: In excess of 250 kW ( Pulsed

Mode), 10 mW (UHF band), 2 mW (X band),
8 kW (at 95 GHz)
2. Frequency: 500 MHz – 12 GHz
3. Duty cycle: 0.1 %
4. Efficiency: 40 % - 70 %

75
 Applications of Magnetron

1. Pulsed radar is the single most important

application with large pulse powers.
2. Voltage tunable magnetrons are used in sweep
oscillators in telemetry and in missile
applications.
3. Fixed frequency, CW magnetrons are used for
industrial heating and microwave ovens.

76
 Biological effects of microwaves

 Electromagnetic radiation in the 1 mm to 1 m

wavelength range (300 MHz to 300 Ghz) is referred to
as microwave radiation.
 A part of which is known as radiofrequency (RF)
radiation, which covers 0.5 MHz to 300 GHz range
and is considered in the context of adverse biological
effects.

77
Ionizing and non – ionizing radiations of
electromagnetic energy

78
 Ionizing radiation

 Ionization is a process by which electrons are stripped

from atoms and molecules and this can produce
molecular changes that can lead to damage in
biological tissue, including effects on DNA, the
genetic material.
 This process requires interaction with high levels of
electromagnetic energy to ionize biological material,
this include X-radiation and gamma radiation.
 The energy levels associated with RF and microwave
radiations are not great enough to cause the ionization
of atoms and molecules, therefore, it is a type of non-
ionizing radiation.

79
 Non ionizing radiation
 Microwave energy is non-ionizing electromagnetic
radiation.
 Ionizing radiation messes up molecules, non-ionizing
radiation merely heats them.
 In general, it does not have sufficient energy to kick
an electron off an atom thus producing charged
particle in a body and cause biological damage.
 The only proven harmful effect from exposure to
microwave (or RF) radiation is thermal.
 RF radiation can enter deep into the body and heat
human organs.

80
 Effect of microwaves in human body

 The blood vessels are dilating and the blood flow

increases substantially as the thermoregulatory
mechanism is activated in order to keep the body
temperature constant.

 With rising body temperature the metabolic rate

rises, which may lead to Stress-Adaptation-Fatigue
Syndrome.

81
 Effects produced by the electromagnetic waves at
different frequency level
 Above 10 GHz (3 cm wavelength or less) heating
occurs mainly in the outer skin surface.
 From 3 GHz to 10 GHz (10 cm to 3 cm) the penetration
is deeper and heating higher
 .From 150 MHz to about 1 GHz (200 cm to 25 cm
wavelength), penetration is even deeper and because of
high absorption, deep body heating can occur.
 Any part of the body that cannot dissipate heat
efficiently or is heat sensitive may be damaged by
microwave radiation of sufficient power.

82
 Measurement of Microwave exposure
 The microwave energy exposure is measured in terms
of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) or PD (Power
Density).
 SAR is the energy which is absorbed in a unit of mass
or volume of the body per unit time.
 The standards that limit microwave exposure were set
at 0.4 W/kg SAR for occupational and 0.08W/Kg for
public exposure.
 The averaging time for determination of SAR was 6
minutes. Power density is the energy absorbed per unit
area in unit time. The high power microwaves definitely
cause some adverse effects in the human system
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 Effec ts of Microwave energy

Power
level Long-term effect Remarks
(mW /cm2) on human body
0.01 Nothing
0.1 Nothing
1 Nothing
5 Nothing Accepted standard for microwave
oven leakage
10 Nothing Accepted standard for maximum
continuous exposure to radiated
emissions (cell phones, etc.)
30 You can feel heat
100 Cataracts can be Summer sunlight is at this level
produced
1000 Pain is induced
PH0101 Unit 2 Lecture 6 84
 Do you know YOUR Brain can be FRIED???

What do Microwave Ovens, Cell Phones and Cordless

Phones have in common?
They all emit... Dangerous Microwave Radiation!
The GOOD NEWS is... with Microwave radiation you
can...
Boil water
Cook meat
Fry eggs

85
The BAD NEWS is...
with Microwave radiation you can...

Fry Your Brain

Your head and brain heat up significantly when you

talk on your cell phone or cordless phone.

86
Want proof?
After 15 minutes of using a cell phone, the orange, red and
pink show significant, dangerous HEAT. Most heat is
generated in your ear canal, which is directly connected to
YOUR BRAIN

87
 After 15 minutes of using a cell phone WITH the BIOPRO
Harmonization Chip applied to it, the green and blue colors
show cool tissue.

Your head's temperature remains normal, providing you with the

protection you deserve.

88
89
Proof enough?

Some scientists estimate that you are now exposed daily

to 100 million times the electromagnetic frequency
(Micro wave) radiation of your grandparents.
So….

AVOID FREQUENT USE OF

CELL PHONES!!!

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