The advances of high-frequency vacuum electron devices (VEDs) in China are reviewed in this paper, including traveling-wave tubes (TWTs) based on novel slow-wave structures (SWSs), high harmonic TWT amplifier, gyrotrons, Smith-Purcell (SP) radiation sources, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) sources, and terahertz (THz) radiation sources in ion-focused beam-plasma system. As one of the most widely used VEDs, TWTs based on folded type SWSs, planar SWSs, and grating type SWSs are studied theoretically and experimentally from Ka-band to R-band. Using folded type SWSs, two TWT amplifiers are developed. As high-power millimeter wave and THz wave sources, gyrotron TWTs, gyrotron oscillators, and gyroklystrons are presented. Moreover, this paper shows SP radiation sources, SPPs sources, and THz radiation sources in ion-focused beam-plasma system open good prospects for developing high-frequency VEDs with new mechanisms, which undoubtedly brings about innovative changes for the development of VEDs.

Beam-plasma system; gyrotrons; Smith-Purcell (SP) radiation; surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs); traveling-wave tubes (TWTs); vacuum electron devices (VEDs)

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China