Accelerator: Waveguide http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/accelerators/waveguide.

html

Waveguide
A waveguide is an evacuated rectangular copper pipe. It carries
electromagnetic waves from one place to another without significant loss in
intensity . This is in contrast to waves broadcast from any antenna, which lose
intensity because they spread out over a large volume.

The size of the waveguide must be a multiple of

the wavelength of the wave, so waveguides are
only practical for electromagnetic waves in the
microwave range, with wavelengths on the scale of
a few centimeters.

How does a waveguide work?

If a microwave oscillation is set up at one end of a waveguide, its electric fields
cause electric currents to flow in the copper walls. These currents in turn induce
new electric and magnetic fields in the waveguide, oscillating with the same
frequency as the original microwave. The net effect is that the microwave travels
along the pipe. There is some small loss of energy due to the electrical resistance
of the copper, but the microwave intensity that arrives at the far end of the pipe
is almost as large as the intensity fed in at the beginning.

1 di 2 08/05/2006 16.39
Accelerator: Waveguide http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/accelerators/waveguide.html

For the very high microwave intensities used at

SLAC, the waveguide must be evacuated (placed
under vacuum) because the intense electric fields
would breakdown through lightning-like spark
formation if air were present in the pipe. The
waveguides at SLAC are kept at about 10-11 times
atmospheric pressure. Such low air pressure is also
called "high vacuum".

Close-up view of part of a waveguide

in the NLC Test Accelerator.

| Accelerators | Applications | Detectors | Experiments | History | Nobel | SSRL | Theory |

| FAQs | Glossary | Guest Book | Photo Tours | Search | Contents
| Environment | Paleo | Cosmic Rays |
| Home | SLAC |

Last update 05/05/03

Owners: mcdunn (design/page), quinn (content)

2 di 2 08/05/2006 16.39