Coaxial magnetron having cavity walls vibrated by tuning fork

Abstract

A co-axial magnetron is provided with a cavity whose resonant frequency can be very rapidly altered in a cyclic manner so that the microwave output frequency of the magnetron can be chosen to lie within the available frequency band of the cavity. The cylindrical walls of the co-axial resonant cavity are constituted by or coupled to the inner surfaces of one or more tuning forks which are maintained in vibration by externally mounted electro-magnetic transducers. As the tines of the tuning forks vibrate, the effect is to cyclically increase and decrease the effective diameter of the cavity, thereby changing its resonant frequency. An adjustable end plate can be provided for the cavity so that fine tuning or slow rate tuning can be provided in addition to the frequency agility provided by the tuning fork.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.