Litton Systems, Inc.

J Rodney Vaughan

Kenneth F Ramacher

Edward M Doyle

A crossed-field amplifier is provided which has an anode and a cathode creating an electric field across a magnetic field formed in an interaction area. A field emitter is disposed within a slot formed on an outer surface of the cathode. The field emitter emits an electron current in response to the electric field to provide priming electrons for improving the start up time of the amplifier. The electron current produced by the field emitter has been shown to initiate secondary emissions of electrons from the cathode to reduce irregular start-up or 'jitter' typically experienced with the amplifier at low pulse repetition frequencies. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a thermionic emitting filament is disposed in a space between adjacent anode vanes of the amplifier. The filament emits electrons in response to an external power source. A portion of the emitted electrons tend to impact the anode vanes, creating x-rays which impact the cathode surface to initiate secondary emissions of electrons.

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Redwood City, CA, United States of America

J Rodney Vaughan