Super-radiant backward-wave oscillators with enhanced power conversion

We propose a method for a very significant increase of the peak power of a backward-wave electron oscillator operating in the non-stationary regime of the super-radiation of short rf pulses. This method is based on sectioning: a regular self-oscillator section is supported with a section providing amplification of the super-radiant pulse. Profiling of a resonant parameter in the amplifying section is used to avoid the parasitic self-excitation and to increase the efficiency of the electron-wave interaction. In such systems, the conversion factor (the ratio between the rf pulse power and the electron beam power) can achieve a few hundred percent.