LINEAR-ANALYSIS OF A MULTIBEAM CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE MASER ARRAY

The multibeam cyclotron-resonance maser (CRM) array is a new concept f or compact, high-power CRM devices operating at low voltages. The CRM array studied in this paper employs low-energy electron beams, which a re propagating in coupled channels in a two-dimensional periodic waveg uide. A static magnetic field spirals the electrons in synchronism wit h a spatial harmonic of the electromagnetic wave. A matrix gain-disper sion equation of the CRM-array interaction is derived in the paper. Nu merical examples are presented for a comparison between CRM interactio ns of one, two, and three electron beams with various waveguide modes. The analysis shows that the multibeam cyclotron interaction yields a considerable gain of microwaves in selective modes.