Frequency Locking and Stabilization Regimes in High-Power Gyrotrons with Low-Q Resonators

Abstract

Using a nonstationary self-consistent model, we analyze the frequency locking and stabilization regimes arising in gyrotrons with low-Q resonators under the action of an external signal or when reflections from a remote nonresonant load are introduced. In the simulations, we used the parameters of high-power gyrotrons designed for controlled thermonuclear fusion with optimized resonator profile. This approach makes it possible to determine output characteristics of the gyrotrons operated in considered regimes taking into account the effect of the incident wave (external or reflected) on the longitudinal field structure with greater precision compared with the earlier results based on the fixed RF-field structure approximation, while qualitative results of the two approaches coincide. Analysis of the effect of reflections from a remote load has demonstrated a substantial dependence of the efficiency of the gyrotron frequency stabilization on the ratio between the characteristic time scale of the synchronism detuning fluctuations and the signal delay time.