Generation of a periodic sequence of sub-gigawatt ultrashort pulses at a frequency of 12.5 GHz with a repetition period of 4 ns in the superradiance mode of a relativistic backward wave oscillator

The experiment implements a mode for generating a periodic sequence of ultrashort superradiance pulses of a relativistic backward wave oscillator at a frequency of 12.5 GHz. During a single pulse of the electron beam current (40 ns), eight pulses are generated with a duration of each at half the peak power level of about 1.0 ns and a repetition period of 4.0 ns (repetition frequency of 250 MHz). The peak power of such pulses was in the range 0.2–0.65 GW, and the corresponding conversion coefficients, defined as the ratio of peak power to electron beam power, 0.3–0.6. At the same time, there was a correlation between the first and subsequent pulses of the sequence and a strict periodicity of their sequence. Keywords: Relativistic backward wave oscillator, superradiance, high-current electron beam.