Stability of gyrotron operation in very high-order modes

This study was motivated by the desire to increase the power, which can be delivered by gyrotrons in long pulse and continuous regimes. Since the admissible power level is determined by the density of ohmic losses in resonator walls, to increase the radiated power a gyrotron should operate in higher order modes. Using an existing gyrotron developed for plasma experiments in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor as a base model, the stability of operation of such a gyrotron in modes with larger number of radial variations was studied. It is shown that the power level achievable in such gyrotrons in stable single mode regimes is close to 1.5 MW. The power level 1.7-1.8 MW can be realized in regimes where the oscillations of the desired mode are accompanied by excitation of distant sidebands whose power is about 1% level of the power of the operating mode. Finally, in the case of operation at the 2-MW level, either the desired mode loses its stability and is replaced by less efficient oscillations of a mode with a smaller azimuthal index or oscillations of the operating mode are accompanied by excitation of sidebands with equally spaced frequencies. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729329]