Preliminary experimental investigation of a complex dual-band high power microwave source

In order to promote the power conversion efficiency of a magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) and obtain microwaves in dual bands, an axially extracted C-band virtual cathode oscillator (VCO) with multiple resonant cavities is introduced to partially utilize the load current of an S-band MILO. The formed novel dual-band high power microwave source called MILO and VCO is investigated with simulation and experimentally. A dual-band radiation antenna is designed to effectively radiate microwaves generated by the MILO and the VCO, respectively, while avoiding them being influenced by the microwave reflection and diffraction. The preliminary experimental results measured by the dual-band diagnostic system show that both the MILO and the VCO operate normally under repeated shots. A microwave of 2.1 GHz, 1.70 GW is generated from the MILO and a 0.37 GW microwave at frequencies of 4.1 GHz and 3.8 GHz is generated from the VCO under the condition of about 440 kV and 35 kA. Compared with a single MILO (10.6%), a MILO and VCO achieves higher total power and efficiency (13.4%) in both S and C bands, indicating that the load current of the MILO partially couples into the beam-wave interaction in the VCO and then contributes to the output microwaves. However, more works are needed regarding the spectrum purification of the VCO and promotion of the output power of both the MILO and the VCO.