%0 Journal Article %A Naumenko, V. D. %A Suvorov, A.N. %A Syrov, A.R. %D 2003 %I Begell House %N 3&4 %P 4 %R 10.1615/TelecomRadEng.v60.i34.110 %T Investigating the Temperature Regime of the Starter Cathode in a Millimeter Wave Magnetron %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/0632a9d54950b268,33fab98d4fc25182,5c09933546d9d18e.html %V 60 %X The temperature regime of the starter cathode of a millimeter wave magnetron is investigated in dependence on its operation conditions. The widespread opinion that starter cathode does not experience the back bombardment, being located outside the interaction space of the magnetron has not been confirmed by practice. The power dissipated at the cathode can make 1 or 2, or even more percent of the input power. This amount is much lower than the power dissipated at the main cathode, however it should be taken into account in the case of great duty factors to avoid shortening of the cathode longevity. As has been found, the temperature of the starter cathode may sharply in crease already with anode currents as low as 10 to 20% of the operating current. The magnitude of this increase depends on the pulse waveform of the anode voltage. The longer the leading and trailing edge of the pulse, the greater the amount of power dissipated at the starter cathode. Knowledge of the cathode temperature required for stable operation of the magnetron, has permitted estimating the time current density through the starter cathode. It was found to be about 1 A/cm2 for the magnetron under consideration. Knowledge of this magnitude allowed launching investigations aimed at selecting the type of the starter cathode for magnetrons of great durability. %8 2004-06-23