Electronics of Microwave Tubes

We understand by "electronics", in general, the study of the behavior and use of all systems and circuits depending for their operation on the presence of discharge devices, mostly those containing electrons. "Microwave electronics" then covers their behavior and use in the microwave region. In this book we shall take a more restricted definition as a basis. We shall study only the motion of charged particles in evacuated systems where the transit time of a particle cannot be neglected compared with the period of the periodic forces producing or influencing its motion, the effects obtained being either useful or detrimental. Further, we will not even treat all the systems covered by this definition, but will limit ourselves in fact to the group of systems which generate, amplify, or change the frequency of microwave energy. Here, in most cases, the discharge paths and circuit elements are physically inseparable. It is necessary, therefore, to include the structural elements of microwave tubes, their circuits, and coupling elements, as well as the discharge phenomena, in describing the present position in microwave electronics.