Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
We describe a new type of microwave processing furnace in which the frequency can be varied continuously from 4 to 8 GHz and the power level varied from zero up to 2.5 kW. The extraordinary bandwidth of this furnace is achieved by using a traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier originally developed for electronic warfare applications. The TWT is a linear beam device characterized by a traveling electromagnetic wave that continuously extracts energy longitudinally along the path of an electron beam. The TWT, unlike other microwave tubes such as the magnetron, klystron, gyrotron, and others, does not depend upon resonant RF fields and is therefore capable of wide bandwidth operation.
Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-840R21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.