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A klystron is a specialized vacuum tube (evacuated electron tube) called a linear-beam tube. The pseudo-Greek word klystron comes from the stem form κλυσ- (klys) of a Greek verb referring to the action of waves breaking against a shore, and the end of the word electron.

The Varian brothers (Russel and Sigurd) of Stanford University are generally considered to be the inventors of the klystron. Their prototype was completed in August 1937. Upon publication in 1939, news of the klystron immediately influenced the work of US and UK researchers working on radar equipment. (The Varians went on to found Varian Associates to commercialize the technology.)

Usage

Klystrons are used as an oscillator or amplifier at microwave and radio frequencies to produce both low power reference signals for superheterodyne radar receivers and to produce high-power carrier waves for communications and the driving force for linear accelerators. It has the advantage (over the magnetron) of coherently amplifying a reference signal and so its output may be precisely controlled in amplitude, frequency and phase. Many klystrons have a waveguide for coupling microwave energy into and out of the device, although it is also quite common for lower power and lower frequency klystrons to use coaxial couplings instead. In some cases a coupling probe is used to couple the microwave energy from a klystron into a separate external waveguide.

Two-cavity klystron amplifier

In the two-chamber klystron, an electron beam from the cathode of an electron gun is injected into a resonant cavity. The electron beam is constrained by an axial magnetic field and is accelerated through a connecting passage (called a drift tube) to a second resonant chamber containing a positively charged anode. While passing through the connecting chamber the electron beam is velocity modulated (periodically bunched) by the weaker RF signal. The negative electrons are attracted to the positive anode contained in the second resonant chamber. As the bunched electrons enter the second chamber they induce standing waves at the same frequency as the input signal. The signal induced in the second chamber is much stronger than that in the first.

Two-cavity klystron oscillator

The two-cavity amplifier klystron is readily turned into an oscillator klystron by providing a feedback loop between the input and output cavities. Two-cavity oscillator klystrons have the advantage of being among the lowest-noise microwave sources available, and for that reason have often been used in the illuminator systems of missile targeting radars. The two-cavity oscillator klystron normally generates more power than the reflex klystron—typically watts of output rather than milliwatts. Since there is no reflector, only one high-voltage supply is required; however, to cause the tube to oscilate, the voltage must be adjusted to a particular value. This is because the electron beam must produce the bunched electrons in the second cavity in order to generate output power. Voltage must be adjusted by varying the velocity of the electron beam to a suitable level due to the fixed physical separation between the two cavities. Often several 'modes' of oscillation can be observed in a given klystron.

Reflex klystron

In the reflex klystron, the electron beam passes through a single resonant cavity. The electrons are fired into one end of the tube by an electron gun. After passing through the resonant cavity they are reflected by a negatively charged reflector electrode for another pass through the cavity, where they are then collected. The electron beam is velocity modulated when it first passes through the cavity. The formation of electron bunches takes place in the drift space between the reflector and the cavity. The voltage on the reflector must be adjusted so that the bunching is at a maximum as the electron beam re-enters the resonant cavity, thus ensuring a maximum of energy is transferred from the electron beam to the RF oscillations in the cavity. The reflector voltage may be varied slightly from the optimum value, which results in some loss of output power, but also in a variation in frequency. This effect is used to good advantage for automatic frequency control in receivers, and in frequency modulation for transmitters. The level of modulation applied for transmission is small enough that the power output essentially remains constant. At regions far from the optimum voltage, no oscillations are obtained at all.

There are often several regions of reflector voltage where the reflex klystron will oscillate; these are referred to as modes. The electronic tuning range of the reflex klystron is usually referred to as the variation in frequency between half power points—the points in the oscillating mode where the power output is half the maximum output in the mode.

Modern semiconductor technology has effectively replaced the reflex klystron in most applications.

Multicavity klystron

In the multicavity klystron, multiple toroidal cavities surround a cylindrical acceleration tube.

To achive high efficiency the electron would have to be modulated by a saw-tooth signal, so that very small bunches enter the second cavity when the voltage peaks. The saw-tooth is synthesized by a fourier series. The harmonics needed for this series are usually generated from the beam itself, but wider bandwidth, efficiency and stability may be achieved by generating them before the klystron.

Optical klystron

In an optical klystron the cavities are replaced with undulators. Very high voltages are needed. But the gun, the drift tube and the collector are still used.

Floating drift tube klystron

The floating drift tube klystron has a single cylindrical chamber containing an electrically isolated central tube. Electrically, this is similar to the two cavity oscillator klystron with a lot of feedback between the two cavities. Electrons exiting the source cavity are velocity modulated by the electric field as they travel through the drift tube and emerge at the destination chamber in bunches, delivering power to the oscillation in the cavity. This type of oscillator klystron has the advantage over the two-cavity klystron on which it is based of only needing one tuning element to effect changes in frequency. The drift tube is electrically insulated from the cavity walls, and DC bias is applied separately. The DC bias on the drift tube may be adjusted to alter the transit time through it, thus allowing some electronic tuning of the oscillating frequency. The amount of tuning in this manner is not large and is normally used for frequency modulation when transmitting.

Collector

The used electron beam is sent through an electron spectrometer. Electrons with different energies are then retarded by different DC fields, so they all hit their collectors with low energy. This process provides several advantages: unused energy flows back to the power supply; unwanted X-rays and secondary electrons are minimized; and the system runs at a lower temperature, minimizing the need for cooling.

Applications

These amplifiers are used to produce UHF, SHF, and EHF signals where such high amplitude (power) is required that solid-state devices are inadequate. Klystrons can be found at work in radar, satellite and wideband high-power communication (very common in television broadcasting and EHF satellite terminals), and high-energy physics (particle accelerators and experimental reactors).

A misleadingly similarly named tube, the krytron, has been used in nuclear weapons, used as switches to detonate explosives at high speeds to start the fission process. They have also been used in Photocopiers.

Klystron tube in entertainment

• A klystron tube is used by Dan Aykroyd's character in the 1988 comedy film, My Stepmother Is an Alien. In this case, the equipment overloads after coming in contact with the metal buttons of a jacket, causing a reaction that sends a powerful signal to a distant world. That signal gains the attention of aliens who come to Earth to investigate. Later, the original malfunction is intentionally reproduced and an alien creature is destroyed by contact with the electrified tube.

See also

• Crossed-field amplifier
• Electromagnetic radiation
• Free electron laser
• Gyrotron
• Inductive output tube
• Linear accelerator
• Magnetron
• Particle accelerator
• Traveling wave tube
• Waveguide

External links

• Animation of how a Klystron works
• (Two cavity klystron)
• (Multicavity klystron)
• (Reflex klystron)
• (High power for linear accelerator)
• History of the Klystron Varian Assosiates
• Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (249) Klyston Gallery Pictures
• Klystron collection in the Virtual Valve Museum
• Klystron Amplifier

• Electronic amplifiers
• Particle accelerators
• Vacuum tubes
• Microwave technology