Dr.
Baruch Levush, Supervisory
Research Physicist in the
Electronics Science and Technology
Division at the Naval
Research Laboratory (NRL), has been elected
a Fellow of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE). Dr.
Levush was cited for leadership in the development
of
theoretical and computational models of free electron radiation
sources.
Dr. Levushreceived his M.Sc. in
physics from Latvian
University in Riga, Latvia in 1972 and his
Ph.D. in physics from
Tel-Aviv University, Israel in 1981. He
received the Dr. Ch.
Weizman Postdoctoral Fellowship and
attended the University of
Maryland for two years. From 1984 to
1985 he was a research scientist
with Rafael, Israel. In 1985
Dr. Levush joined the University
of Maryland, where his
research focused on the physics of coherent
radiation sources
and the design of high-power microwave sources,
such as
gyrotrons, relativistic backward wave oscillators, free
electron lasers and applications of microwave sources. In 1993
he became a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Plasma
Physics at University of Maryland. During his tenure at the
Institute
of Plasma Research, Dr. Levush collaborated with a
number of
scientists from NRL's Plasma Physics Division, MIT,
and the microwave
industry in the area of gyrotron research for
fusion application.
He also had strong collaboration with
scientists from the high
power microwave community working on
the development of very
high power microwave
sources.
In 1995
Dr. Levush joined NRL
as the head of the Theory and Design
Section of the Vacuum Electronics
Branch. The branch is the
principal center for vacuum electronics
research and
development in the Department of Defense. Dr. Levush
is
actively involved in developing theoretical models and computational
tools for analyzing the operation of existing microwave vacuum
devices and in inventing new concepts for high power, high frequency
coherent radiation sources. He is the author and co-author of
over 100 journal articles. He received a Technology Transfer
Award in 2000 and an ARPAD award 1998 from NRL.
Dr. Levush
is responsible for formulating and directing several
basic and
applied research programs conducted at both the Vacuum
Electronics Branch and industrial sites. This includes research
and development of novel high-performance radiation sources for
application in radar, electronic countermeasures and communication.
In this regard, Dr. Levush has primary responsibility for providing
direction in the development of theoretical modeling and design
tools for new radiation sources. In addition, he shares
responsibilities
with other Vacuum Electronics Program managers
for overall content,
direction and leadership of several other
projects within the
Vacuum Electronics Program.
Since future military systems
are likely to require a relatively small number of highly
specialized
vacuum electron devices, a reduction of development
costs will
have a significant impact on the total cost of the
device. Dr.
Levush directs the DoD effort in developing a fully
integrated
suite of design codes for vacuum electron
devices.
These
design tools will provide
the basis for establishing
simulation-based design methodology
in place of the
present cyclic build-and-test methodology to achieve first-pass
design success for vacuum electron devices. The concept of
"first-pass
design success" calls for balanced
optimization via validated
computer codes followed by a single
hardware demonstration. In
other words, the intent is to
establish a design capability of
sufficient integrity and
validity that computational design and
optimization will yield
a prototype meeting the designed specifications
in its first
embodiment. Through the use of simulation-based
design
methodologies, vacuum electron devices manufacturers will
have
the flexibility to respond quickly to new design specifications
for future military systems and to develop new products and product
upgrades at minimal cost. Examples of this approach include the
millimeter-wave gyro-klystron and microwave power module
(MPM).
In support
of the NRL WARLOC
experimental radar effort, a number of W-band
(94 GHz) gyro-klystrons
have been designed and optimized using
the design tools developed
by the team lead by Dr. Levush.
These gyro-klystrons met or even
exceeded all the design
specifications in the first testing at
NRL. This provided the
foundation for the development of the
high average power W-band
gyro-klystron in US industry. The demonstration
of 10 kW
average power from the gyro-klystron is a good example
of
first-pass design success. Together with his colleagues Dr.
Levush received the DoD Robert L. Woods Award for his role in
the successful development of the high average power, W-band
gyro-klystron.
The
recent development of the
extremely efficient wide-band power
booster (helix TWT) for the
MPM provides another example of the
impact of such codes on the
TWT development cycle. By applying
the former accepted approach,
the vendor needed to design,
fabricate and test 14 successive
prototypes over a two-year
period to extend the power booster
circuit efficiency from 15%
to 33%. A subsequent single-step
effort, requiring less than
two months, extended the circuit
efficiency to 42% by using the
newly developed TWT design and
optimization codes by the team
directed by Dr. Levush.
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