travelling-wave tube

English edit

 
a travelling-wave tube

Alternative forms edit

Noun edit

travelling-wave tube (plural travelling-wave tubes)

  1. (electronics) A type of vacuum tube which amplifies electromagnetic signals, where the electron gun fires down the tube with an unmodulated electron beam, that passes through an interaction array, where the EM-signal is fed, which interacts with the electron beam, bunching the electrons, and transferring power to the signal.[1]
    • 2020, Alexander Figotin, An Analytic Theory Of Multi-stream Electron Beams In Traveling Wave Tubes, World Scientific, →ISBN, page 40:
      From the early days of the invention of traveling wave tubes and other devices employing electron beams, there have been efforts to understand the mechanisms and physics of RF signal amplification in those devices.

Usage notes edit

The TWT's electron gun is typically a thermionic cathodic emitters. The usual design for the interaction grid is a helix wrapped around the beam's transmission tube. Modern TWTs have a depressed collector to recuperate unused power in the electron beam after it has passed through the interaction grid. Modern tubes are metal- instead of glass-encased. Radiator fins may be attached for heat management.[1]

Synonyms edit

  • TWT (abbreviation)

Hypernyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 IEEE Spectrum, [ "The Quest for the Ultimate Vacuum Tube"], Carter M. Armstrong, 24 November 2015

Further reading edit