Investigation of a Miniaturized E-Band Cosine-Vane Folded Waveguide Traveling-Wave Tube for Wireless Communication

To realize the miniaturization of E-band traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), the size analysis and optimization design were carried out based on an improved cosine-vane folded waveguide (CV-FWG) slow-wave structure (SWS) that operates in a low voltage. In addition, a novel miniaturized T-shaped coupler was proposed to achieve a good voltage standing wave rate (VSWR) in a broad bandwidth. The coupler length was reduced by as much as 77% relative to an original design. With higher coupling impedance, the radius and length of the shortened SWS were optimized as 1.3 mm and 50 mm, respectively. Using microwave tube simulator suit (MTSS) and CST particle studio (PS), 3D beam-wave simulations at 9400 V, 20 mA predicted a gain of 20 dB and a saturated output power of 9 W. The simulation results for CV-FWG TWTs were compared with conventional FWG TWTs from 81 GHz to 86 GHz, showing significant performance advantages with excellent flatness for high-rate wireless communication in the future. The CV-FWG SWS circuit will be fabricated by 3D printing, and this work is underway.

Automated summary

This research focused on miniaturizing E-band traveling-wave tubes by optimizing the cosine-vane folded waveguide slow-wave structure and introducing a novel miniaturized T-shaped coupler to achieve good performance in low voltage conditions. Simulation results showed high gain and saturated output power, indicating significant advantages for future wireless communication applications.