An inductive output tube (IOT) provides improved efficiency and larger bandwidth.
In one embodiment, an IOT is provided with an electron gun that generates an electron
beam, a tube body, a collector for collecting the electron beam, and an extended-interaction
output circuit. The electron beam travels through the tube body and the extended-interaction
output circuit. The extended-interaction output circuit is located within the tube
body. The extended-interaction output circuit comprises a short-circuited resonant
structure. The extended-interaction output circuit is used for reducing undesired
components of a radio frequency (RF) wave, increasing desired components of the
RF wave, and slowing down the propagation of the RF wave. (That is the circuit
increases the integral of the electric field along the path of the beam electrons
while decreasing the stored energy associated with those fields.) The extended-interaction
output circuit also provides the IOT with larger bandwidth operation. The collector
may be a multi-stage depressed collector having voltages on the collector to result
in a constant efficiency characteristic. The radio-frequency drive power to the
tube is connected by means of a broadband impedance matching transformer, and the
grid to cathode capacitance may be reduced by depressions in the surface of the
cathode directly underneath the grid structure.