A 0.

85 THz Vacuum-Based Power Amplifier

Mark A. Basten, John C. Tucek, David A. Gallagher, and Kenneth E. Kreischer
Electronic Systems, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Rolling Meadows, IL, 60008

Robert Mihailovich
Teledyne Scientific and Imaging LLC, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360
Abstract: A 0.850 THz vacuum electronic power amplifier
capable of >100mW output power is being developed at
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. The compact
power amplifier is based on a DRIE-fabricated folded
waveguide slow-wave circuit, together with a high current
density thermionic cathode, a high field permanent magnet
solenoid, and a single-stage depressed collector for overall
device efficiency. The new 0.85 THz power amplifier
design is based on a 0.67 THz amplifier that achieved over
100mW of output power with 21.5 dB of gain, 15 GHz of
operational bandwidth, a collector efficiency of 93% and
an overall device efficiency of 0.44%.

data-rate communications, airborne collision avoidance

systems, and high resolution radar imaging for standoff
concealed weapon detection.
The new 0.85 THz power amplifier is based on a previous
design at 0.67 THz which demonstrated over 100mW of

PARAMETER

Keywords: Terahertz; submillimeter wave; vacuum

electronics; high-resolution imaging.
Introduction
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (NGES) is
developing compact, integrated power amplifier modules
operating from 0.22 THz to 1.05 THz as part of the
DARPA HiFive and THz Electronics programs. Vacuum
electronics (VE) based high power sources in the
submillimeter and THz regimes are envisioned as
subcomponents for applications including covert, high

VALUE

Power (at FWG output)

141 mW

Gain

26.5 dB

Efficiency

0.54 %

Bandwidth

+/- 14 GHz

Pin (at FWG input)

0.2 mW

Voltage

9.70 kV

Current

3.1 mA

Circuit current density

311 A/cm2

Beam transmission

75 %

Circuit length

2.34 cm

Table 1. 0.85 THz FWG Power Amplifier

output power with a gain of 21.5 dB and instantaneous
bandwidth of 15 GHz. Overall device efficiency was
0.44% when operated with a single-stage depressed
collector with 93% collection efficiency. The performance
of this device is discussed in greater detail in a
corresponding presentation.
Table 1 provides the design parameters for the 0.85 THz
power amplifier. The interaction circuit is a foldedwaveguide (FWG) slow-wave structure manufactured via a
deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) process of silicon-oninsulator (SOI) wafers (see Fig. 1). This process has been
demonstrated to provide precise control of the FWG depth
along the length of the circuit, thereby providing for effective
control of the wave phase velocity and efficient interaction
with the electron beam. OFHC copper is electroplated onto
the FWG and the beam tunnel halves to a thickness that is
several multiples of the RF skin depth. The FWG circuit is
made in two halves and bonded at the E-plane midpoint to

Figure 1. FWG circuit and transition fabricated with

DRIE using a double SOI process.

978-1-4673-0369-9/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE

39

form the integrated waveguide. In the 0.67 THz design the

rectangular beam tunnel was formed via a two-level DRIE
process. For the 0.85 THz design we plan to use a dual-SOI
wafer to act as an etch-stop for the FWG depth and beam
tunnel. The dual-SOI process is expected to improve the
dimensional control of the beam tunnel through the length of
the circuit and reduce phase errors.

a 9kG axial field over a 2.5cm flat-field region with low

transverse field content (< 20G) for beam focusing and
transport through the interaction circuit. The radial
apertures provide a 47o by 158o angular opening for
coupling RF to/from the power amplifier. The design of
low-loss circuitry to transmit drive power to the input of
the FWG circuit and from the output of the FWG circuit
will be discussed.

Critical to the operation of a THz amplifier are the proper

electron beam formation at the cathode, beam focusing, and
high beam transmission with minimal loss through the
FWG circuit to the collector. This is achieved using a high
axial field permanent magnet solenoid with minimal
transverse fields. For the initial prototype device we plan
to utilize the radial-access magnet that was used for the
0.67 THz amplifier, shown in Fig. 2. This magnet provides

Conclusions
A compact 0.85 THz power amplifier comprised of a
vacuum electronic amplifier with a microfabricated FWG
circuit is being developed. The design of this amplifier is
based on a previous device which operated from 0.640
0.685 THz and demonstrated >100 mW of transmitted
output power at 0.656 THz. The new power amplifier will
utilize some of the same components as the earlier design,
including a high-field radial-access permanent magnet
solenoid, and will incorporate new techniques for improved
circuit fabrication and low loss input/output power
coupling.
Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by, or in part
by, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army
Research Office under Contract HR0011-09-C-0061 as part
of the DARPA THz Electronics program. NGES would
specifically like to acknowledge Dr. John Albrecht and Dr.
Dev Palmer for their support of this program.
Approved for public release, distribution unlimited.

Figure 2. The 9kG radial-access magnet provides a flatfield region of 2.5cm for beam focusing and transport.
The axial length of the magnet is 3.7 in. and the
maximum outer diameter is 3.6 in.

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