Generation of a periodic sequence of high-power ultrashort pulses in a chain of coupled backward-wave and traveling-wave tubes operating in the regimes of amplification and nonlinear Kompfner suppression

We have studied the dynamics of an electronic microwave generator with backward-wave and traveling-wave tubes connected in the feedback circuit and operating in the regimes of amplification and nonlinear Kompfner absorption, respectively. It is shown that radiation generated in such a system can have the form of a periodic sequence of ultrashort pulses. The studied mechanism of pulse generation is analogous to the method of passive mode locking, which is widely used in laser physics.