Anode materials for high power microwave devices
Introduction
Recent advancements in diodes for High Power Microwave (HPM) devices are towards new materials for cathodes and anodes. While the investigations of cathodes appear to have reached a high level of success, the anode area still remains underdeveloped. Present anode materials limit the lowest achievable pressure in an HPM device, thus reducing its efficiency. The challenges lie with the anode’s significant contribution to outgassing and plasma formation, caused by its secondary electron emission – all of which are thermally driven phenomena generated by the electron beam impacting the anode’s surface.
The goal is to eliminate these products and thus increase the HPM’s efficiency by investigating materials which would most benefit anode applications, as well as finding optimal outgassing and secondary electron emission reduction methods and applying them to the selected material choices.
Ongoing research
Materials:
- Metals – solids Stainless Steel/Copper/Nickel.
- Graphene
- Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite
