The Magnetron: A Cross-Field Microwave Tube

THE MAGNETRON
A cross-field microwave tube
Engr. Prof. F. K. Opara

E. C. Ifediora
OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Construction
• Effect of magnetic field
• Effect of magnetic field & electric field
• Effect of combined fields on electrons
• Operation
• Limitations and Advances
• Applications
INTRO1
• The cavity ( or traveling wave) magnetron is a high-power microwave
oscillator
• Was invented in Great Britain by Randall and Boot based on travelling
wave principle
• It is a diode which uses the interaction of magnetic and electric fields in
a complex cavity to provide oscillations of very high peak power (the
original one gave in excess of 100 kW at 3 GHz).
• It is true to say that without the cavity magnetron, microwave radar
would have been greatly delayed and would have come too late to have
been the factor it was in World War II.
INTRO2
• The cavity magnetron, which will be referred to as the magnetron, is a
diode, usually of cylindrical construction.
• It employs a radial electric field, an axial magnetic field and an anode
structure with permanent cavities.
• The cylindrical cathode is surrounded by the anode with cavities, and
thus a radial dc electric field will exist.
• The magnetic field, because of a magnet, is axial, i.e., has lines of
magnetic force passing through the cathode and the surrounding
interaction space.
CROSS-SECTION OF HOLE & SLOT
MAGNETRON
CONSTRUCTION
• The magnetic lines of forces are thus at right angles to the structure cross section.
• The magnetic field is also dc, and since it is perpendicular to the plane of the radial
electric field, the magnetron is called a crossed-field device.
• The output is taken from one of the cavities, by means of a coaxial line, or through a
waveguide, depending on the power and frequency.
• The rings interconnecting with the anode poles are used for strapping,
• Magnetrons using identical cavities in the anode block normally employ strapping
to prevent mode jumping.
• Finally, the anode is normally made of copper, regardless of its actual shape
EFFECT OF MAGNETIC FIELD
• A moving electron represents a current, and therefore a magnetic field
exerts a force upon it, just as it exerts a force on a wire carrying a
current.
• The force thus exerted has a magnitude proportional to the product Bev
• Where e and v are the charge and velocity of the electron, respectively,
and B is the component of the magnetic field in a plane perpendicular to
the direction of travel of the electron.
EFFECT OF MAGNETIC FIELD
(CONT’D)
• Since the magnetic field in the magnetron is constant, the force of the
magnetic field on the electron (and therefore the radius of curvature) will
depend solely on the forward (radial) velocity of the electron.
EFFECT OF MAGNETIC FIELD &
ELECTRIC FIELD
• When the magnetic field is zero, the electron goes straight from the
cathode to the anode, accelerating all the time under the force of the
radial electric field shown by x.
• When the magnetic field has a small but definite strength, it will exert a
lateral force on the electron, bending its path to the left shown by y
• It is possible to make the magnetic field so strong that electrons will not
reach the anode at all. The magnetic field required to return electrons to
the cathode after they have just grazed the anode is called the cutoff
field. The resulting path is z
CROSS-SECTION SHOWING
ELECTRON PATHS X, Y, & Z
OPERATION: EFFECT OF COMBINED FIELDS ON
ELECTRONS
• In the absence of the RF electric field, electrons a and b would have followed the paths
shown by the dotted lines a and b, respectively, but the RF field naturally modifies these
paths.
• The presence of oscillations in the magnetron brings in a tangential (RF) component of
electric field.
• When electron a is situated (at this instant of time) at point 1, the tangential component of
the RF electric field opposes the tangential velocity of the electron.
OPERATION
LIMITATION AND ADVANCES
• Current efficiencies are of the order of 50%; a significant size reduction
is being achieved, especially for larger tubes, with the aid of two
advancements.
• One is the development of modern permanent magnet materials, which
has resulted in reduced electromagnet bulk.
• The other advance is in cathode materials. By the use of such substances
as thoriated tungsten, much higher cathode temperatures (1800'C
compared with I000'C) are being achieved. This helps greatly in
overcoming the limitation set by cathode heating from back
bombardment.
APPLICATIONS
• The powers required range from 10 kW to 5 MW, depending on the
application and the operating frequency.
• The maximum available powers range from 10 MW in the UHF band,
through 2 MW in the X band, to 10 kW at-100 GHz.
• Used for pulse work in radar and linear particle accelerators.
• Fixed frequency CW magnetrons are also available; and are used
extensively for industrial heating and microwave ovens
REFERENCES
• George K. & Bernard D., Electronics Communication System. 4th Ed. Published McGraw-
Hill. Inc. Copyright© 1993, 1985, 1977, 1970

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THE MAGNETRON

A cross-field microwave tube

Engr. Prof. F. K. Opara

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