First lecture

Micrometric 21\22

Klystron – Two-cavity Klystron Amplifier

Definition: Klystrons are a special type of vacuum tubes that find applications as
amplifiers and oscillators at microwave frequencies. Its principle of operation is
velocity modulation. Thus the device used for amplifying microwave signals is
known as Two-cavity Klystron.

In the year 1937, American engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian developed
klystrons. Basically, the operating principle of Klystron is such that the kinetic
energy of a moving electron beam is utilized for amplifying and generating
microwave signals. TWT i.e., Travelling Wave Tubes are also used for
amplification of RF signals and have similar applications as klystrons. But in
TWT, a continuous interaction is maintained between the field and electron beam.
While in klystrons interaction between the two is allowed to occur only at the
cavities of the structure.

Klystrons are majorly classified as:

 Two-cavity Klystron
 Reflex Klystron

Here in this lecture, we will discuss the construction and working of the two-cavity
klystron amplifier.

Contents: Two-cavity Klystron

1. Operating Principle
2. Construction
3. Working
4. Applications

Operating Principle of Two-cavity Klystron

As we have already discussed in the introduction that Klystron is based on the
principle of velocity modulation. Thus two-cavity klystron amplifier utilizes the
kinetic energy of moving electron beam for signal amplification.
The variation in the velocity of electrons while moving inside the tube is known as
velocity modulation. This velocity modulation permits bunching of electrons
while propagation. So, the combined energy of bunched electrons is transferred at
the output thereby providing an amplified signal.
Construction
The figure below represents the structure of a two-cavity klystron:

As we can see that the above figure consists of 2 cavities namely the buncher
cavity and catcher cavity. The RF signal to be amplified is provided at the buncher
cavity. The electron gun comprises cathode, heating element and anode. The
electron beam is produced by the cathode by making use of a heating element and
the high positive potential at the anode provides the required acceleration to the
electron beam initially. The region between two cavities is known as drift space.
To allow focused propagation of electron beam inside the tube an external
electromagnetic winding is used that generates a longitudinal magnetic field. This
is done in order to prevent the spreading of the beam inside the tube. The amplified
RF signal is achieved at the catcher cavity. Also, a collector is present near the
second cavity that collects the electron bunches.

Working of Two-cavity Klystron Amplifier

Consider the above-shown figure of two-cavity klystron amplifier.
Initially, electrons are emitted from the electron gun and the anode present in the
structure provides the desired acceleration to the beam.
 In the absence of any RF input, the electron will tend to move with their
respective uniform velocities to reach the catcher cavity and collected at the
collector.
 But when external RF signal is applied at the input of the buncher cavity
then this causes the generation of a local electric field inside the tube.
This electric field causes the bunching of electrons as the field applies acceleration
and deceleration to the moving electron, according to the polarity of the signal by
which the field is generated.
Basically, the reason for causing acceleration and deceleration is that when the
direction of movement of an electron is in the same direction of the field, then, in
this case, the electrons experience a decrease in their moving velocity. However, if
the generated electric field is opposite to the direction of movement of the electron
then, in this case, the electrons experience an increase in the velocity of their
movement

Let us now understand in detail how this decrease and increase in velocity causes
bunching of electrons;
1. When the negative half of the RF signal is provided as input to the buncher
cavity then the moving electrons experience a repulsive force due to the
presence of a negative charge at the entering plate of the buncher cavity.

2. Or we can say that due to the negative half of the input the generated electric
field will be in the same direction of the moving electrons. So, the velocity
of the moving electrons gets reduced.
3. Further when the positive half of the RF signal is provided then the positive
potential at the first plate of the cavity applies attractive force to the moving
electrons. More simply, for the positive half cycle of input, the generated
electric field will be opposite to the direction of electron movement. So, this
leads to an increase in the moving velocity of the electrons.
Thus, when we consider both the cases then the electrons that were emitted earlier
by the gun will be decelerated while the electrons emitted later will be accelerated.
Thus all the electrons while moving with different velocities get bunched in the
drift space. This change in the velocity of electrons while moving due to RF input is
known as velocity modulation. Once the electron bunching is done then the catcher
cavity present at another end of the tube absorbs the beam energy.

It is to be noted that to find the position of the catcher cavity transit time of
bunches must be considered. This is so because the catcher cavity must be present
at a sufficient distance from the buncher cavity so that bunching can be attained in
the drift space. Further, once the energy is transferred to the catcher cavity then
electrons gets collected at the collector.
Applegate Diagram
The figure below shows the Applegate diagram that represents the bunching of
electrons moving with different velocities:
The electron travelling inside the tube under the absence of external fields acts as
the bunching center. Also, the electrons moving due to the influence of the positive
half cycle of the signal reaches faster while the movement due to the negative half
cycle is retarded. Thus the figure represents the bunching process at a certain point
and at a specific distance inside the tube.

Applications
The two-cavity Klystron finds application in satellite communication, UHF TV
transmitters as well as radar systems, wideband high power communication and
troposphere scatter transmitters etc.

Limitations and losses of conventional Tubes at Microwave Frequencies

Conventional vacuum triodes, tetrodes and pentodes are less useful signal sources
at frequencies above 1 G Hz because of
 lead inductance
 Inter-electrode capacitance effects,
 Transit angle effects
 Gain bandwidth product limitations.
 Power losses

Lead inductance and inter-electrode capacitance effects

At frequencies above 1 GHz conventional vacuum tubes are impaired by parasitic
circuit reactance because the circuit capacitances between tube electrodes and the
circuit inductance of the lead wire are too large for a microwave resonant circuit.
Further as the frequency increases the real part of the input admittance may be
large enough to cause a serious over load of the input circuit and thereby reduce
the operating efficiency of the tube.

Transit angle effects

Another limitation in the application of conventional tubes at microwave
frequencies is the electron transit angle between electrodes. The electron transit
angle is defines as

Where:
is the transit time across the gap
D = is the width of the gap of the buncher cavity.
= Velocity of the electron 0.593 * √
= DC voltage.

When frequencies are below microwave range, the transit angle is negligible. At
microwave frequencies, however the transit time is large compared to the period of
the microwave signal, and the potential between the cathode and the grid may
alternate from 10 to 100 times during the electron transit. The grid potential during
the negative half cycle thus removes energy that was given to the electron during
the positive half cycle. Consequently, the electrons may oscillate back and forth in
the cathode-grid space or return to the cathode. The overall result of transit angle
effects is to reduce the operating efficiency of the vacuum tube. The degenerate
effect becomes more serious when frequencies are well above 1 GHz.

Gain bandwidth product limitations

The gain-bandwidth product is independent of frequency. For a given tube, a
higher gain can be achieved only at the expense of a narrower bandwidth. This
restriction is applicable to a resonant circuit only. In microwave devices either
reentrant cavities or slow-wave structures are used to obtain a possible overall high
gain over a bandwidth.

Power losses
The use of conventional tubes at higher frequencies also increases in power losses
resulting from skin effect, losses resulting from capacitance charging currents,
losses due to radiation from the circuit and dielectric losses.