To reduce the energy demand and operation cost for circular electron positron collider (CEPC), the high efficiency klystrons are being developed at Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. A 800-kW continuous wave (CW) klystron operating at frequency of 650-MHz has been designed. The results of beam–wave interaction simulation with several different codes are presented. The efficiency is optimized to be 65% with a second harmonic cavity in three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell code CST. The effect of cavity frequency error and mismatch load on efficiency of klystron have been investigated. The design and cold test of reentrant cavities are described, which meet the requirements of RF section design. So far, the manufacturing and high-power test of the first klystron prototype have been completed. When the gun operated at DC voltage of 80 kV and current of 15.4 A, the klystron peak power reached 804 kW with output efficiency of about 65.3% at 40% duty cycle. The 1-dB bandwidth is ±0.8 MHZ. Due to the crack of ceramic window, the CW power achieved about 700 kW. The high-power test results are in good agreement with 3D simulation.
