Klystron Department


Photo of the Test Lab

The SLAC Klystron Department is dedicated to the development and manufacturing of high power RF sources and microwave components for present and future HEP and BES programs. It is composed of approximately 20 engineers and physicists, supported by designers, technicians, and machinists. It maintains a facility equipped to produce and test pulsed multi-megawatt klystrons between 2 and 12 GHz, as well as CW megawatt-level UHF sources.  The well equipped test lab also provides high power RF and associated facilities for R & D activities such as high gradient breakdown research, electron gun development, and testing of RF components. The manufacturing group specializes in vacuum electronic equipment and has a production capacity of several klystrons per week. The Microwave Engineering group maintains all installed klystrons at SLAC and provides engineering design, fabrication, and maintenance for low-noise RF generation and distribution systems in most of the operating accelerators and storage rings.

Current Klystron R & D efforts are focused on the development of an L-band sheet beam klystron for ILC application. In addition to its klystron-oriented work, the department builds a variety of RF vacuum-electronic equipment, including the recent completion of a state of the art RF gun for LCLS.

Last Page Update:
Thursday May 30, 2019