Small-signal analysis of a rectangular helix structure traveling-wave-tube

This paper investigates the properties of traveling wave-beam interaction in a rectangular helix traveling-wave-tube (TWT) for a solid sheet electron beam. The `hot' dispersion equation is obtained by means of the self-consistent field theory. The small signal analysis, which includes the effects of the beam parameters and slow-wave structure (SWS) parameters, is carried out by theoretical computation. The numerical results show that the bandwidth and the small-signal gain of the rectangular helix TWT increase as the beam current increases; and the beam voltage not obviously influences the small signal gain. Among different rectangular helix structures, the small-signal gain increases as the width of the rectangular helix SWS increases, however, the bandwidth decreases whether structure parameters a and L or \psi and L are fixed or not. In addition, a comparison of the small-signal gain of this structure with a conventional round helix is made. The presented analysis will be useful for the design of the TWT with a rectangular helix circuit.