Volume 62, Nº 7-8 (2019)

We have developed, manufactured, and tested a waveguide mixer in the range 211–275 GHz on the basis of the superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) tunnel structures. The methods of manufacturing high-quality tunnel structures on quartz substrates have been worked out. To extend the receiver band, the Nb/AlO_x/Nb and Nb/AlN/NbN tunnel junctions with a high current density of up to 20 kA/cm² are employed. The dependence of the characteristics of the receiving elements on the signal frequency is simulated for the intermediate-frequency band 4–12 GHz. The measurements demonstrate a good agreement of the input band of the receiving structures with the calculated results. The uncorrected noise temperature of the receiver amounts to 24 K at a frequency of 265 GHz, which is only two times higher than the quantum limit. The receivers under development are intended for a number of newly-built ground-based radio telescopes (“Suffa” and LLAMA), as well as for the “Millimetron” space program.

We discuss the results of the atmospheric absorption studies on the territory of the Kara-Dag radio astronomy station in Crimea in the millimeter-wavelength transparency windows. Critical analysis of the hardware system and measurement techniques is carried out, which permits one to create a more perfect radiometric system for long-term atmospheric measurements. Connection between atmospheric absorption at the Kara-Dag station and climatic features of the station location is shown. The bimodal distribution of absorption is explained by the prevailing north wind.

The gyrotron traveling-wave tube (gyro-TWT) is a wideband version of gyrotron amplifiers, which produce pulsed or continuous-wave radiation in the millimeter-wavelength band at a power level that exceeds the powers produced by conventional TWTs with slow-wave structures and rectilinear beams by 1–2 orders of magnitude. Since 1996, researchers at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS) have been developing the concept of the gyro-TWT based on the use of a waveguide with a helically corrugated surface, which changes the dispersion of one of the eigenmodes in a circular waveguide radically. In this paper, we discuss several problems that arise in implementation of such devices, which many years of experimental studies have revealed, present the parameters of gyro-TWTs developed with allowance for specific applications of their end users, and discuss lines of further perfection of such amplifiers.

We demonstrate the possible implementation of the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) method, which is widely used in optics, for the microwave frequency band. This method is based on the preliminary elongation of the incident pulse in the stretcher, sequential amplification of spectral components in a wideband amplifier, and final compression in a line with negative dispersion (compressor). A circuit is considered in which multifold, helically corrugated waveguides are used as an operating space in each section, including a stretcher, an amplifier, and a compressor. The dispersion characteristics of such waveguides can vary significantly when its geometrical parameters are changed, which makes it possible to ensure optimal dispersion characteristics in the stretcher and compressor, as well as the largest gain bandwidth in the amplifier. In addition, these dispersive elements allow us to avoid spurious reflection of the signal due to the absence of a stopband in the operating frequency range. Simulations within the framework of the coupledwave approach showed the prospects of the circuit proposed. In particular, using an experimentally realized 30-GHz gyro-TWT, the peak power of a 200-ns, 300-W incident pulse can be increased up to 4 MW, which is about six times higher than the power of the driving electron beam. With direct amplification (in the absence of a stretcher and a compressor) of the specified incident pulse in the same gyro-TWT, the output peak power does not exceed 250 kW.

We consider the influence of an external quasi-monochromatic signal on a multimode gyrotron in the case where the signal frequency is close to the frequency of the operating mode of the gyrotron. The influence of the mode competition on the generation regime at a harmonic frequency modulation is studied. The calculations were performed for a high-power 170 GHz gyrotron developed at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS). Depending on the parameters of the gyrotron and the external signal, various generation regimes were determined, including locking of the operating-mode frequency when the radiation frequency is close to the frequency of the external signal, beats of the frequency and amplitude of the operating mode, and excitation of spurious modes.

The Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences has for many years been developing sub-terahertz and terahertz large-orbit gyrotrons that permit selective oscillation at higher cyclotron harmonics than is possible in the conventional gyrotrons. Currently, experimental studies are conducted at two specialized facilities. A prototype universal sub-terahertz source for magnetic resonance spectroscopy is studied using a facility that generates long-pulse and continuous electron beams with particle energies of up to 30 KeV. Continuous selective oscillation at the second and third cyclotron harmonics with frequencies of 0.267 and 0.394 THz was obtained for a radiation power of 900 and 370 W, respectively. New resonators with periodic phase correctors have been developed to increase the efficiency of third-harmonic oscillation and obtain fourth-harmonic oscillation with frequencies of up to 0.65 THz. Using a facility with an electron energy of up to 80 KeV, we study the possibilities of increasing the pulse generation power at the third harmonic at frequencies close to 1 THz to employ in experiments on obtaining a gas discharge in a focused terahertz wave beam and generating high-power extreme ultraviolet radiation.

We show that the radiation patterns of two-dimensional systems in the form of arrays depend on the duration of the emitted pulses. To study such systems, we propose to use the correlation length depending on the pulse duration and the emission direction. The obtained formula for the length of correlation in two-dimensional systems is convenient for description of distortions in the radiation patterns, which are caused by shortening the duration of the emitted pulses. In this paper, we consider the effect of suppression of side lobes in radiation patterns. This is a general effect, since it is related to the delay of signals from different parts of the emitting system. In particular, it is observed in optical systems of the diffraction grating type, in which a decrease in the intensity of diffraction maxima in the case of pulse duration shortening can be used as the basis for a new method of estimation (or measurement) of the duration of optical pulses.