Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Continuous-wave magnetrons continue to offer the highest efficiency, lowest cost per watt, and greatest compactness among high-power microwave sources, making them attractive for industrial, scientific, and defense applications. Emerging missions, particularly space solar power systems, industrial microwave heating, and accelerators, demand significantly enhanced performance metrics, including high DC-to-RF efficiency, thermal stability, ultra-low phase noise, and precise phase controllability for coherent operation. To satisfy the critical requirement for high power, low-cost microwave sources with high spectral purity, extensive research has focused on injection-locking techniques, external phase/frequency modulation methods, and large-scale coherent power combining. This paper reviews the fundamental characteristics of CW magnetrons, recent advances in injection-locked magnetron transmitters, power-combining systems employing multiple injection-locked magnetrons, magnetron-based phased-array systems, and emerging applications. Finally, the challenges and promising development directions for next-generation CW magnetrons are discussed.
Source: Microwave
Authors: Heping Huang, Bo Yang, Naoki Shinohara
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,207
Award: G7770880450
OpenAlex ID: W7117663230