Design of a Terahertz Cascade Backward Wave Amplifier

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 61; no. 6; pp. 1715 - 1720
• Main Authors: David, Jean Francois, Durand, Alain J., Mineo, Mauro, Paoloni, Claudio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.06.2014; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Amplifiers; Backward waves; Cascade backward-wave amplifier (CBWA); Cascades; Computational modeling; Computer simulation; double corrugated waveguide (DCW); Electron tubes; Gain; Modulation; Oscillators; Particle in cell technique; Power generation; Slow waves; Solid modeling; Strategy; terahertz; Terahertz frequencies; vacuum electron devices; vacuum electron devices; double corrugated waveguide (DCW); terahertz; Cascade backward-wave amplifier (CBWA)
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2014.2303142

The cascade backward-wave amplifier (CBWA) has gained recent interest as amplifier at terahertz frequencies. The backward-wave regime permits the design of slow wave structures (SWSs) with longer period and geometrical dimensions, for a given frequency, that better match the fabrication process capabilities. The complexity of the CBWA and the use of the double corrugated waveguide as SWS to operate at terahertz frequencies require a simulation strategy to properly model the amplifier behavior and to reduce the relevant number of time-consuming particle-in-cell simulations required for a proper design. A methodology for the fast design of CBWAs is presented.