Shadowing of the operating mode by sidebands in gyrotrons with diode-type electron guns

In gyrotrons operating in high-order modes, during the startup process, the shadowing of the operating mode by two sidebands may take place. By “shadowing,” we mean the situation when, during the voltage rise, one of the parasitic modes is excited first, and this excitation prevents the excitation of the desired mode. Then, the oscillations of the first parasitic mode, whose frequency is higher than the frequency of the desired operating mode, can be replaced by excitation of the second parasitic mode, whose frequency is lower than the operating one. As a result, the desired mode remains in the “shadow” of these parasitic modes and is never excited. This paper describes such effect in gyrot…