A new type of high-selective Bragg resonator having a step of corrugation inside the interaction region was used as a microwave system for a free-electron maser (FEM). Using a LINAC LIU-3000 (1 MeV/200 A/200 ns) to drive the FEM oscillator, a single-mode single-frequency operation was achieved at a frequency of 30.74 GHz with an output power of about 50 MW, which corresponded to a record efficiency of 35% for a millimeter wavelength FEM.

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Experiments to investigate copper surface fatigue caused by pulsed rf radiation were carried out using the 30 GHz free electron maser. The copper surface of a special test cavity was exposed to 15-20 MW=150-200 ns rf pulses with a repetition rate of 1 Hz, providing a temperature rise of up to 250 C in each pulse. An electron microscope was used to study the copper surface both before and after exposure to 10 4-10 5 rf pulses. An examination of the copper microstructure and cracks which developed during the experiment was made. Dramatic degradation of the copper surface and causes of very frequent breakdown were observed when the total number of rf pulses reaches 6 Â 10 4 .

A novel scheme of the Bragg free-electron maser (free-electron laser) [FEM (FEL)] based on the coupling of an amplified propagating wave with a quasicutoff mode trapped inside the cavity is considered. The cutoff mode is essential for FEM self-excitation while energy extraction from the electron beam in the steady-state oscillation regime is almost completely determined by the propagating mode, synchronous to the beam. The main advantage of the discussed scheme over the traditional scheme of Bragg FEM is improving selectivity over the transverse index. Based on the proposed feedback scheme the advance of the JINR-IAP FEM to the shorter wavelength is discussed.

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