backward-wave oscillator
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backward-wave oscillator
[′bak·wərd ‚wāv ′äs·ə‚lād·ər] (electronics)
An electronic device which amplifies microwave signals simultaneously over a wide band of frequencies and in which the traveling wave produced is reflected backward so as to sustain the wave oscillations. Abbreviated BWO. Also known as carcinotron.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.