Abstract: A traveling wave tube incorporates a collector having a plurality of collector electrodes, one or more of which is operated at a potential below that of the cathode so as to collect electrons having associated energies greater than the cathode potential (E.sub.K), and thereby act as a high impedance current source. The current from the collector electrode operated below the cathode potential (E.sub.K) is converted by a power converter to an alternating current signal that can be either magnetically coupled to the high voltage transformer (T.sub.1) of the traveling wave tube power supply, or coupled to an external load with a transformer (T.sub.2), thereby improving the operating efficiency of the traveling wave tube system.

Abstract: A collector for collecting an electron beam in a traveling wave tube is disclosed. The collector includes at least one collector stage provided with two annularly arranged stage segments. The stage segments include overlapping end portions to prevent impingement of electrons of the electron beam against an isolator surrounding the collector stage. The stage segments facilitate the realization of transverse electric field distributions from one stage segment to the other stage segment within the collector by application of selected voltages to the stage segments.