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114-683: He helped to develop the Kenotron and Pliotron, two- and three-electrode vacuum tubes , which could be exhausted to an exceedingly high vacuum. He was awarded an honorary degree by Columbia University in 1948. His papers are housed at the Schaffer Library Special Collections Department of Union College. This article about an American electrical engineer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vacuum tube A vacuum tube , electron tube , valve (British usage), or tube (North America)

228-494: A DC power supply , as a demodulator of amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals and for similar functions. Early tubes used the filament as the cathode; this is called a "directly heated" tube. Most modern tubes are "indirectly heated" by a "heater" element inside a metal tube that is the cathode. The heater is electrically isolated from the surrounding cathode and simply serves to heat the cathode sufficiently for thermionic emission of electrons. The electrical isolation allows all

342-637: A blue glow. Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt significantly improved on the original triode design in 1914, while working on his sound-on-film process in Berlin, Germany. Tigerstedt's innovation was to make the electrodes concentric cylinders with the cathode at the centre, thus greatly increasing the collection of emitted electrons at the anode. Irving Langmuir at the General Electric research laboratory ( Schenectady, New York ) had improved Wolfgang Gaede 's high-vacuum diffusion pump and used it to settle

456-498: A combination of a triode with a hexode and even an octode have been used for this purpose. The additional grids include control grids (at a low potential) and screen grids (at a high voltage). Many designs use such a screen grid as an additional anode to provide feedback for the oscillator function, whose current adds to that of the incoming radio frequency signal. The pentagrid converter thus became widely used in AM receivers, including

570-486: A current can be applied to the working electrode . The counter electrode is usually made of an inert material, such as a noble metal or graphite , to keep it from dissolving. In arc welding , an electrode is used to conduct current through a workpiece to fuse two pieces together. Depending upon the process, the electrode is either consumable, in the case of gas metal arc welding or shielded metal arc welding , or non-consumable, such as in gas tungsten arc welding . For

684-449: A direct current system, the weld rod or stick may be a cathode for a filling type weld or an anode for other welding processes. For an alternating current arc welder, the welding electrode would not be considered an anode or cathode. For electrical systems which use alternating current , the electrodes are the connections from the circuitry to the object to be acted upon by the electric current but are not designated anode or cathode because

798-579: A far superior and versatile technology for use in radio transmitters and receivers. At the end of the 19th century, radio or wireless technology was in an early stage of development and the Marconi Company was engaged in development and construction of radio communication systems. Guglielmo Marconi appointed English physicist John Ambrose Fleming as scientific advisor in 1899. Fleming had been engaged as scientific advisor to Edison Telephone (1879), as scientific advisor at Edison Electric Light (1882), and

912-505: A gas, typically at low pressure, which exploit phenomena related to electric discharge in gases , usually without a heater. One classification of thermionic vacuum tubes is by the number of active electrodes . A device with two active elements is a diode , usually used for rectification . Devices with three elements are triodes used for amplification and switching . Additional electrodes create tetrodes , pentodes , and so forth, which have multiple additional functions made possible by

1026-404: A given selection of constituents of the electrode, the final efficiency is determined by the internal structure of the electrode. The important factors in the internal structure in determining the performance of the electrode are: These properties can be influenced in the production of the electrodes in a number of manners. The most important step in the manufacturing of the electrodes is creating

1140-431: A heated electron-emitting cathode and an anode. Electrons can flow in only one direction through the device – from the cathode to the anode. Adding one or more control grids within the tube allows the current between the cathode and anode to be controlled by the voltage on the grids. These devices became a key component of electronic circuits for the first half of the twentieth century. They were crucial to

1254-401: A high volumetric one. Furthermore, Silicon has the advantage of operating under a reasonable open circuit voltage without parasitic lithium reactions. However, silicon anodes have a major issue of volumetric expansion during lithiation of around 360%. This expansion may pulverize the anode, resulting in poor performance. To fix this problem, scientists looked into varying the dimensionality of

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1368-733: A highly efficient conductive network that securely binds lithium iron phosphate particles, adding carbon nanotubes as a conductive additive at a dosage of just 0.5 wt.% helps cathodes to achieve a remarkable rate capacity of 161.5 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C and 130.2 mAh g-1 at 5 C, whole maintaining 87.4% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 2 C. The anodes used in mass-produced Li-ion batteries are either carbon based (usually graphite) or made out of spinel lithium titanate (Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 ). Graphite anodes have been successfully implemented in many modern commercially available batteries due to its cheap price, longevity and high energy density. However, it presents issues of dendrite growth, with risks of shorting

1482-400: A low potential space charge region between the anode and screen grid to return anode secondary emission electrons to the anode when the anode potential is less than that of the screen grid. Formation of beams also reduces screen grid current. In some cylindrically symmetrical beam power tubes, the cathode is formed of narrow strips of emitting material that are aligned with the apertures of

1596-572: A lower cost, however there are some problems associated with using manganese. The main problem is that manganese tends to dissolve into the electrolyte over time. For this reason, cobalt is still the most common element which is used in the lithium compounds. There is much research being done into finding new materials which can be used to create cheaper and longer lasting Li-ion batteries For example, Chinese and American researchers have demonstrated that ultralong single wall carbon nanotubes significantly enhance lithium iron phosphate cathodes. By creating

1710-399: A more extensive mathematical treatment one could read the paper by Newton. An interpretation of this result and what a closer look at the physical meaning of the λ {\displaystyle \lambda } one can read the paper by Marcus. the situation at hand can be more accurately described by using the displaced harmonic oscillator model, in this model quantum tunneling

1824-414: A pair of beam deflection electrodes which deflected the current towards either of two anodes. They were sometimes known as the 'sheet beam' tubes and used in some color TV sets for color demodulation . The similar 7360 was popular as a balanced SSB (de)modulator . A beam tetrode (or "beam power tube") forms the electron stream from the cathode into multiple partially collimated beams to produce

1938-412: A printing instrument was needed. As a result of experiments conducted on Edison effect bulbs, Fleming developed a vacuum tube that he termed the oscillation valve because it passed current in only one direction. The cathode was a carbon lamp filament, heated by passing current through it, that produced thermionic emission of electrons. Electrons that had been emitted from the cathode were attracted to

2052-506: A relatively low-value resistor is connected between the cathode and ground. This makes the cathode positive with respect to the grid, which is at ground potential for DC. However C batteries continued to be included in some equipment even when the "A" and "B" batteries had been replaced by power from the AC mains. That was possible because there was essentially no current draw on these batteries; they could thus last for many years (often longer than all

2166-407: A simple oscillator only requiring connection of the plate to a resonant LC circuit to oscillate. The dynatron oscillator operated on the same principle of negative resistance as the tunnel diode oscillator many years later. The dynatron region of the screen grid tube was eliminated by adding a grid between the screen grid and the plate to create the pentode . The suppressor grid of the pentode

2280-419: A small-signal vacuum tube are 1 to 10 millisiemens. It is one of the three 'constants' of a vacuum tube, the other two being its gain μ and plate resistance R p or R a . The Van der Bijl equation defines their relationship as follows: g m = μ R p {\displaystyle g_{m}={\mu \over R_{p}}} The non-linear operating characteristic of

2394-422: A specific task. Typical constituents are the active materials which serve as the particles which oxidate or reduct, conductive agents which improve the conductivity of the electrode and binders which are used to contain the active particles within the electrode. The efficiency of electrochemical cells is judged by a number of properties, important quantities are the self-discharge time, the discharge voltage and

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2508-405: A vacuum phototube , however, achieve electron emission through the photoelectric effect , and are used for such purposes as the detection of light intensities. In both types, the electrons are accelerated from the cathode to the anode by the electric field in the tube. The simplest vacuum tube, the diode (i.e. Fleming valve ), was invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming . It contains only

2622-456: A vacuum where electron emission from the cathode depends on energy from photons rather than thermionic emission ). A vacuum tube consists of two or more electrodes in a vacuum inside an airtight envelope. Most tubes have glass envelopes with a glass-to-metal seal based on kovar sealable borosilicate glasses , although ceramic and metal envelopes (atop insulating bases) have been used. The electrodes are attached to leads which pass through

2736-400: A very high plate voltage away from lower voltages, and accommodating one more electrode than allowed by the base. There was even an occasional design that had two top cap connections. The earliest vacuum tubes evolved from incandescent light bulbs , containing a filament sealed in an evacuated glass envelope. When hot, the filament in a vacuum tube (a cathode ) releases electrons into

2850-429: A wide range of frequencies. To combat the stability problems of the triode as a radio frequency amplifier due to grid-to-plate capacitance, the physicist Walter H. Schottky invented the tetrode or screen grid tube in 1919. He showed that the addition of an electrostatic shield between the control grid and the plate could solve the problem. This design was refined by Hull and Williams. The added grid became known as

2964-469: Is manganese . The best choice of compound usually depends on the application of the battery. Advantages for cobalt-based compounds over manganese-based compounds are their high specific heat capacity, high volumetric heat capacity , low self-discharge rate, high discharge voltage and high cycle durability. There are however also drawbacks in using cobalt-based compounds such as their high cost and their low thermostability . Manganese has similar advantages and

3078-445: Is a current . Compare this to the behavior of the bipolar junction transistor , in which the controlling signal is a current and the output is also a current. For vacuum tubes, transconductance or mutual conductance ( g m ) is defined as the change in the plate(anode)/cathode current divided by the corresponding change in the grid to cathode voltage, with a constant plate(anode) to cathode voltage. Typical values of g m for

3192-406: Is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as a thermionic tube or thermionic valve utilizes thermionic emission of electrons from a hot cathode for fundamental electronic functions such as signal amplification and current rectification . Non-thermionic types such as

3306-414: Is allowed. This is needed in order to explain why even at near-zero Kelvin there still are electron transfers, in contradiction to the classical theory. Without going into too much detail on how the derivation is done, it rests on using Fermi's golden rule from time-dependent perturbation theory with the full Hamiltonian of the system. It is possible to look at the overlap in the wavefunctions of both

3420-549: Is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor , an electrolyte , a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials (chemicals) depending on the type of battery. Michael Faraday coined the term " electrode " in 1833; the word recalls the Greek ἤλεκτρον ( ḗlektron , "amber") and ὁδός ( hodós , "path, way"). The electrophore , invented by Johan Wilcke in 1762,

3534-401: Is being done into increasing the efficiency, safety and reducing the costs of these electrodes specifically. In Li-ion batteries, the cathode consists of a intercalated lithium compound (a layered material consisting of layers of molecules composed of lithium and other elements). A common element which makes up part of the molecules in the compound is cobalt . Another frequently used element

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3648-440: Is due to safety concerns advised against by the manufacturer. Other primary cells include zinc–carbon , zinc–chloride , and lithium iron disulfide. Contrary to the primary cell a secondary cell can be recharged. The first was the lead–acid battery , invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté . This type of battery is still the most widely used in among others automobiles. The cathode consists of lead dioxide (PbO2) and

3762-499: Is in lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion batteries). A Li-ion battery is a kind of flow battery which can be seen in the image on the right. Furthermore, a Li-ion battery is an example of a secondary cell since it is rechargeable. It can both act as a galvanic or electrolytic cell . Li-ion batteries use lithium ions as the solute in the electrolyte which are dissolved in an organic solvent . Lithium electrodes were first studied by Gilbert N. Lewis and Frederick G. Keyes in 1913. In

3876-494: Is mechanical shock, which breaks either the electrode or the system's container, leading to poor conductivity and electrolyte leakage. However, the relevance of mechanical properties of electrodes goes beyond the resistance to collisions due to its environment. During standard operation, the incorporation of ions into electrodes leads to a change in volume. This is well exemplified by Si electrodes in lithium-ion batteries expanding around 300% during lithiation. Such change may lead to

3990-469: Is not heated and does not emit electrons. The filament has a dual function: it emits electrons when heated; and, together with the plate, it creates an electric field due to the potential difference between them. Such a tube with only two electrodes is termed a diode , and is used for rectification . Since current can only pass in one direction, such a diode (or rectifier ) will convert alternating current (AC) to pulsating DC. Diodes can therefore be used in

4104-410: Is not important since they are simply re-captured by the plate. But in a tetrode they can be captured by the screen grid since it is also at a positive voltage, robbing them from the plate current and reducing the amplification of the tube. Since secondary electrons can outnumber the primary electrons over a certain range of plate voltages, the plate current can decrease with increasing plate voltage. This

4218-399: Is now the pre-exponential factor has now been described by more physical parameters instead of the experimental factor A {\displaystyle A} . One is once again revered to the sources as listed below for a more in-depth and rigorous mathematical derivation and interpretation. The physical properties of electrodes are mainly determined by the material of the electrode and

4332-557: Is obtained very similar to the classically derived formula, as expected. w E T = | J | 2 ℏ π λ k T exp ⁡ [ − ( Δ E + λ ) 2 4 λ k T ] {\displaystyle w_{ET}={\frac {|J|^{2}}{\hbar }}{\sqrt {\frac {\pi }{\lambda kT}}}\exp \left[{\frac {-(\Delta E+\lambda )^{2}}{4\lambda kT}}\right]} The main difference

4446-551: Is the Loewe 3NF . This 1920s device has three triodes in a single glass envelope together with all the fixed capacitors and resistors required to make a complete radio receiver. As the Loewe set had only one tube socket, it was able to substantially undercut the competition, since, in Germany, state tax was levied by the number of sockets. However, reliability was compromised, and production costs for

4560-416: Is the dynatron region or tetrode kink and is an example of negative resistance which can itself cause instability. Another undesirable consequence of secondary emission is that screen current is increased, which may cause the screen to exceed its power rating. The otherwise undesirable negative resistance region of the plate characteristic was exploited with the dynatron oscillator circuit to produce

4674-718: The λ {\displaystyle \lambda } is the reorganisation energy. Filling this result in the classically derived Arrhenius equation k = A exp ⁡ ( − Δ G † k T ) , {\displaystyle k=A\,\exp \left({\frac {-\Delta G^{\dagger }}{kT}}\right),} leads to k = A exp ⁡ [ − ( Δ G 0 + λ ) 2 4 λ k T ] {\displaystyle k=A\,\exp \left[{\frac {-(\Delta G^{0}+\lambda )^{2}}{4\lambda kT}}\right]} With A being

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4788-556: The Edison effect , that became well known. Although Edison was aware of the unidirectional property of current flow between the filament and the anode, his interest (and patent ) concentrated on the sensitivity of the anode current to the current through the filament (and thus filament temperature). It was years later that John Ambrose Fleming applied the rectifying property of the Edison effect to detection of radio signals, as an improvement over

4902-661: The plate ( anode ) when the plate was at a positive voltage with respect to the cathode. Electrons could not pass in the reverse direction because the plate was not heated and not capable of thermionic emission of electrons. Fleming filed a patent for these tubes, assigned to the Marconi company, in the UK in November 1904 and this patent was issued in September 1905. Later known as the Fleming valve ,

5016-429: The screen grid or shield grid . The screen grid is operated at a positive voltage significantly less than the plate voltage and it is bypassed to ground with a capacitor of low impedance at the frequencies to be amplified. This arrangement substantially decouples the plate and the control grid , eliminating the need for neutralizing circuitry at medium wave broadcast frequencies. The screen grid also largely reduces

5130-469: The 6GH8 /ECF82 triode-pentode, quite popular in television receivers. The desire to include even more functions in one envelope resulted in the General Electric Compactron which has 12 pins. A typical example, the 6AG11, contains two triodes and two diodes. Some otherwise conventional tubes do not fall into standard categories; the 6AR8, 6JH8 and 6ME8 have several common grids, followed by

5244-482: The 6SN7 , is a "dual triode" which performs the functions of two triode tubes while taking up half as much space and costing less. The 12AX7 is a dual "high mu" (high voltage gain ) triode in a miniature enclosure, and became widely used in audio signal amplifiers, instruments, and guitar amplifiers . The introduction of the miniature tube base (see below) which can have 9 pins, more than previously available, allowed other multi-section tubes to be introduced, such as

5358-513: The Greek words ἄνο (ano), 'upwards' and ὁδός (hodós), 'a way'. The anode is the electrode through which the conventional current enters from the electrical circuit of an electrochemical cell (battery) into the non- metallic cell. The electrons then flow to the other side of the battery. Benjamin Franklin surmised that the electrical flow moved from positive to negative. The electrons flow away from

5472-486: The cycle performance . The physical properties of the electrodes play an important role in determining these quantities. Important properties of the electrodes are: the electrical resistivity , the specific heat capacity (c_p), the electrode potential and the hardness . Of course, for technological applications, the cost of the material is also an important factor. The values of these properties at room temperature (T = 293 K) for some commonly used materials are listed in

5586-482: The junction field-effect transistor (JFET), although vacuum tubes typically operate at over a hundred volts, unlike most semiconductors in most applications. The 19th century saw increasing research with evacuated tubes, such as the Geissler and Crookes tubes . The many scientists and inventors who experimented with such tubes include Thomas Edison , Eugen Goldstein , Nikola Tesla , and Johann Wilhelm Hittorf . With

5700-464: The magnetic detector . Amplification by vacuum tube became practical only with Lee de Forest 's 1907 invention of the three-terminal " audion " tube, a crude form of what was to become the triode . Being essentially the first electronic amplifier , such tubes were instrumental in long-distance telephony (such as the first coast-to-coast telephone line in the US) and public address systems , and introduced

5814-413: The 19th century, telegraph and telephone engineers had recognized the need to extend the distance that signals could be transmitted. In 1906, Robert von Lieben filed for a patent for a cathode-ray tube which used an external magnetic deflection coil and was intended for use as an amplifier in telephony equipment. This von Lieben magnetic deflection tube was not a successful amplifier, however, because of

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5928-481: The Audion for demonstration to AT&T's engineering department. Dr. Harold D. Arnold of AT&T recognized that the blue glow was caused by ionized gas. Arnold recommended that AT&T purchase the patent, and AT&T followed his recommendation. Arnold developed high-vacuum tubes which were tested in the summer of 1913 on AT&T's long-distance network. The high-vacuum tubes could operate at high plate voltages without

6042-572: The Si. Many studies have been developed in Si nanowires , Si tubes as well as Si sheets. As a result, composite hierarchical Si anodes have become the major technology for future applications in lithium-ion batteries. In the early 2020s, technology is reaching commercial levels with factories being built for mass production of anodes in the United States. Furthermore, metallic lithium is another possible candidate for

6156-467: The added stress and, therefore changes the battery's performance. Furthermore, mechanical stresses may also impact the electrode's solid-electrolyte-interphase layer. The interface which regulates the ion and charge transfer and can be degraded by stress. Thus, more ions in the solution will be consumed to reform it, diminishing the overall efficiency of the system. In a vacuum tube or a semiconductor having polarity ( diodes , electrolytic capacitors )

6270-462: The additional controllable electrodes. Other classifications are: Vacuum tubes may have other components and functions than those described above, and are described elsewhere. These include as cathode-ray tubes , which create a beam of electrons for display purposes (such as the television picture tube, in electron microscopy , and in electron beam lithography ); X-ray tubes ; phototubes and photomultipliers (which rely on electron flow through

6384-400: The allied military by 1916. Historically, vacuum levels in production vacuum tubes typically ranged from 10 μPa down to 10 nPa (8 × 10   Torr down to 8 × 10  Torr). The triode and its derivatives (tetrodes and pentodes) are transconductance devices, in which the controlling signal applied to the grid is a voltage , and the resulting amplified signal appearing at the anode

6498-424: The anode and the conventional current towards it. From both can be concluded that the charge of the anode is negative. The electron entering the anode comes from the oxidation reaction that takes place next to it. The cathode is in many ways the opposite of the anode. The name (also coined by Whewell) comes from the Greek words κάτω (kato), 'downwards' and ὁδός (hodós), 'a way'. It is the positive electrode, meaning

6612-401: The anode is the positive (+) electrode and the cathode the negative (−). The electrons enter the device through the cathode and exit the device through the anode. Many devices have other electrodes to control operation, e.g., base, gate, control grid. In a three-electrode cell, a counter electrode, also called an auxiliary electrode , is used only to make a connection to the electrolyte so that

6726-455: The anode of solid lead. Other commonly used rechargeable batteries are nickel–cadmium , nickel–metal hydride , and Lithium-ion . The last of which will be explained more thoroughly in this article due to its importance. Marcus theory is a theory originally developed by Nobel laureate Rudolph A. Marcus and explains the rate at which an electron can move from one chemical species to another, for this article this can be seen as 'jumping' from

6840-435: The anode, cathode, and one grid, and so on. The first grid, known as the control grid, (and sometimes other grids) transforms the diode into a voltage-controlled device : the voltage applied to the control grid affects the current between the cathode and the plate. When held negative with respect to the cathode, the control grid creates an electric field that repels electrons emitted by the cathode, thus reducing or even stopping

6954-411: The anode. It boasts a higher specific capacity than silicon, however, does come with the drawback of working with the highly unstable metallic lithium. Similarly to graphite anodes, dendrite formation is another major limitation of metallic lithium, with the solid electrolyte interphase being a major design challenge. In the end, if stabilized, metallic lithium would be able to produce batteries that hold

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7068-479: The base terminals, some tubes had an electrode terminating at a top cap . The principal reason for doing this was to avoid leakage resistance through the tube base, particularly for the high impedance grid input. The bases were commonly made with phenolic insulation which performs poorly as an insulator in humid conditions. Other reasons for using a top cap include improving stability by reducing grid-to-anode capacitance, improved high-frequency performance, keeping

7182-481: The battery and posing a safety issue. Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 has the second largest market share of anodes, due to its stability and good rate capability, but with challenges such as low capacity. During the early 2000s, silicon anode research began picking up pace, becoming one of the decade's most promising candidates for future lithium-ion battery anodes. Silicon has one of the highest gravimetric capacities when compared to graphite and Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 as well as

7296-404: The cathode slam into the anode (plate) and heat it; this can occur even in an idle amplifier due to the quiescent current necessary to ensure linearity and low distortion. In a power amplifier, this heating can be considerable and can destroy the tube if driven beyond its safe limits. Since the tube contains a vacuum, the anodes in most small and medium power tubes are cooled by radiation through

7410-536: The cathode, no direct current could pass from the cathode to the grid. Thus a change of voltage applied to the grid, requiring very little power input to the grid, could make a change in the plate current and could lead to a much larger voltage change at the plate; the result was voltage and power amplification . In 1908, de Forest was granted a patent ( U.S. patent 879,532 ) for such a three-electrode version of his original Audion for use as an electronic amplifier in radio communications. This eventually became known as

7524-415: The chemical driving forces are usually higher in magnitude than the mechanical energies, this is not true for Li-ion batteries. A study by Dr. Larché established a direct relation between the applied stress and the chemical potential of the electrode. Though it neglects multiple variables such as the variation of elastic constraints, it subtracts from the total chemical potential the elastic energy induced by

7638-409: The control grid, reducing control grid current. This design helps to overcome some of the practical barriers to designing high-power, high-efficiency power tubes. Manufacturer's data sheets often use the terms beam pentode or beam power pentode instead of beam power tube , and use a pentode graphic symbol instead of a graphic symbol showing beam forming plates. Electrodes An electrode

7752-400: The current between cathode and anode. As long as the control grid is negative relative to the cathode, essentially no current flows into it, yet a change of several volts on the control grid is sufficient to make a large difference in the plate current, possibly changing the output by hundreds of volts (depending on the circuit). The solid-state device which operates most like the pentode tube is

7866-426: The deformations in the lattice and, therefore stresses in the material. The origin of stresses may be due to geometric constraints in the electrode or inhomogeneous plating of the ion. This phenomenon is very concerning as it may lead to electrode fracture and performance loss. Thus, mechanical properties are crucial to enable the development of new electrodes for long lasting batteries. A possible strategy for measuring

7980-428: The development of radio , television , radar , sound recording and reproduction , long-distance telephone networks, and analog and early digital computers . Although some applications had used earlier technologies such as the spark gap transmitter for radio or mechanical computers for computing, it was the invention of the thermionic vacuum tube that made these technologies widespread and practical, and created

8094-445: The discipline of electronics . In the 1940s, the invention of semiconductor devices made it possible to produce solid-state devices, which are smaller, safer, cooler, and more efficient, reliable, durable, and economical than thermionic tubes. Beginning in the mid-1960s, thermionic tubes were being replaced by the transistor . However, the cathode-ray tube (CRT) remained the basis for television monitors and oscilloscopes until

8208-546: The early 21st century. Thermionic tubes are still employed in some applications, such as the magnetron used in microwave ovens, certain high-frequency amplifiers , and high end audio amplifiers, which many audio enthusiasts prefer for their "warmer" tube sound , and amplifiers for electric musical instruments such as guitars (for desired effects, such as "overdriving" them to achieve a certain sound or tone). Not all electronic circuit valves or electron tubes are vacuum tubes. Gas-filled tubes are similar devices, but containing

8322-401: The electrode slurry. As can be seen above, the important properties of the electrode all have to do with the even distribution of the components of the electrode. Therefore, it is very important that the electrode slurry be as homogeneous as possible. Multiple procedures have been developed to improve this mixing stage and current research is still being done. A modern application of electrodes

8436-418: The electrode to a species in the solvent or vice versa. We can represent the problem as calculating the transfer rate for the transfer of an electron from donor to an acceptor The potential energy of the system is a function of the translational, rotational, and vibrational coordinates of the reacting species and the molecules of the surrounding medium, collectively called the reaction coordinates. The abscissa

8550-409: The electrodes in the cell not being reversible. An example of a primary cell is the discardable alkaline battery commonly used in flashlights. Consisting of a zinc anode and a manganese oxide cathode in which ZnO is formed. The half-reactions are: Overall reaction: The ZnO is prone to clumping and will give less efficient discharge if recharged again. It is possible to recharge these batteries but

8664-415: The electronic coupling constant describing the interaction between the two states (reactants and products) and g ( t ) {\displaystyle g(t)} being the line shape function . Taking the classical limit of this expression, meaning ℏ ω ≪ k T {\displaystyle \hbar \omega \ll kT} , and making some substitution an expression

8778-421: The electrons flow from the electrical circuit through the cathode into the non-metallic part of the electrochemical cell. At the cathode, the reduction reaction takes place with the electrons arriving from the wire connected to the cathode and are absorbed by the oxidizing agent . A primary cell is a battery designed to be used once and then discarded. This is due to the electrochemical reactions taking place at

8892-417: The envelope via an airtight seal. Most vacuum tubes have a limited lifetime, due to the filament or heater burning out or other failure modes, so they are made as replaceable units; the electrode leads connect to pins on the tube's base which plug into a tube socket . Tubes were a frequent cause of failure in electronic equipment, and consumers were expected to be able to replace tubes themselves. In addition to

9006-425: The exception of early light bulbs , such tubes were only used in scientific research or as novelties. The groundwork laid by these scientists and inventors, however, was critical to the development of subsequent vacuum tube technology. Although thermionic emission was originally reported in 1873 by Frederick Guthrie , it was Thomas Edison's apparently independent discovery of the phenomenon in 1883, referred to as

9120-418: The figure to the right represents these. From the classical electron transfer theory, the expression of the reaction rate constant (probability of reaction) can be calculated, if a non-adiabatic process and parabolic potential energy are assumed, by finding the point of intersection (Q x ). One important thing to note, and was noted by Marcus when he came up with the theory, the electron transfer must abide by

9234-419: The filament and cathode. Except for diodes, additional electrodes are positioned between the cathode and the plate (anode). These electrodes are referred to as grids as they are not solid electrodes but sparse elements through which electrons can pass on their way to the plate. The vacuum tube is then known as a triode , tetrode , pentode , etc., depending on the number of grids. A triode has three electrodes:

9348-478: The following century these electrodes were used to create and study the first Li-ion batteries. Li-ion batteries are very popular due to their great performance. Applications include mobile phones and electric cars. Due to their popularity, much research is being done to reduce the cost and increase the safety of Li-ion batteries. An integral part of the Li-ion batteries are their anodes and cathodes, therefore much research

9462-444: The glass envelope. In some special high power applications, the anode forms part of the vacuum envelope to conduct heat to an external heat sink, usually cooled by a blower, or water-jacket. Klystrons and magnetrons often operate their anodes (called collectors in klystrons) at ground potential to facilitate cooling, particularly with water, without high-voltage insulation. These tubes instead operate with high negative voltages on

9576-411: The influence of the plate voltage on the space charge near the cathode, permitting the tetrode to produce greater voltage gain than the triode in amplifier circuits. While the amplification factors of typical triodes commonly range from below ten to around 100, tetrode amplification factors of 500 are common. Consequently, higher voltage gains from a single tube amplification stage became possible, reducing

9690-723: The law of conservation of energy and the Frank-Condon principle. Doing this and then rearranging this leads to the expression of the free energy activation ( Δ G † {\displaystyle \Delta G^{\dagger }} ) in terms of the overall free energy of the reaction ( Δ G 0 {\displaystyle \Delta G^{0}} ). Δ G † = 1 4 λ ( Δ G 0 + λ ) 2 {\displaystyle \Delta G^{\dagger }={\frac {1}{4\lambda }}(\Delta G^{0}+\lambda )^{2}} In which

9804-410: The mechanical behavior of electrodes during operation is by using nanoindentation . The method is able to analyze how the stresses evolve during the electrochemical reactions, being a valuable tool in evaluating possible pathways for coupling mechanical behavior and electrochemistry. More than just affecting the electrode's morphology, stresses are also able to impact electrochemical reactions. While

9918-494: The miniature tube version of the " All American Five ". Octodes, such as the 7A8, were rarely used in the United States, but much more common in Europe, particularly in battery operated radios where the lower power consumption was an advantage. To further reduce the cost and complexity of radio equipment, two separate structures (triode and pentode for instance) can be combined in the bulb of a single multisection tube . An early example

10032-413: The most charge, while being the lightest. In recent years, researchers have conducted several studies on the use of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as conductive additives. These SWCNTs help to preserve electron conduction, ensure stable electrochemical reactions, and maintain uniform volume changes during cycling, effectively reducing anode pulverization. A common failure mechanism of batteries

10146-431: The number of external pins (leads) often forced the functions to share some of those external connections such as their cathode connections (in addition to the heater connection). The RCA Type 55 is a double diode triode used as a detector, automatic gain control rectifier and audio preamplifier in early AC powered radios. These sets often include the 53 Dual Triode Audio Output. Another early type of multi-section tube,

10260-435: The number of tubes required. Screen grid tubes were marketed by late 1927. However, the useful region of operation of the screen grid tube as an amplifier was limited to plate voltages greater than the screen grid voltage, due to secondary emission from the plate. In any tube, electrons strike the plate with sufficient energy to cause the emission of electrons from its surface. In a triode this secondary emission of electrons

10374-523: The oscillation valve was developed for the purpose of rectifying radio frequency current as the detector component of radio receiver circuits. While offering no advantage over the electrical sensitivity of crystal detectors , the Fleming valve offered advantage, particularly in shipboard use, over the difficulty of adjustment of the crystal detector and the susceptibility of the crystal detector to being dislodged from adjustment by vibration or bumping. In

10488-399: The power used by the deflection coil. Von Lieben would later make refinements to triode vacuum tubes. Lee de Forest is credited with inventing the triode tube in 1907 while experimenting to improve his original (diode) Audion . By placing an additional electrode between the filament ( cathode ) and plate (anode), he discovered the ability of the resulting device to amplify signals. As

10602-422: The pre-exponential factor which is usually experimentally determined, although a semi classical derivation provides more information as will be explained below. This classically derived result qualitatively reproduced observations of a maximum electron transfer rate under the conditions Δ G † = λ {\displaystyle \Delta G^{\dagger }=\lambda } . For

10716-448: The present-day C cell , for which the letter denotes its size and shape). The C battery's positive terminal was connected to the cathode of the tubes (or "ground" in most circuits) and whose negative terminal supplied this bias voltage to the grids of the tubes. Later circuits, after tubes were made with heaters isolated from their cathodes, used cathode biasing , avoiding the need for a separate negative power supply. For cathode biasing,

10830-523: The question of thermionic emission and conduction in a vacuum. Consequently, General Electric started producing hard vacuum triodes (which were branded Pliotrons) in 1915. Langmuir patented the hard vacuum triode, but de Forest and AT&T successfully asserted priority and invalidated the patent. Pliotrons were closely followed by the French type ' TM ' and later the English type 'R' which were in widespread use by

10944-892: The reactants and the products (the right and the left side of the chemical reaction) and therefore when their energies are the same and allow for electron transfer. As touched on before this must happen because only then conservation of energy is abided by. Skipping over a few mathematical steps the probability of electron transfer can be calculated (albeit quite difficult) using the following formula w E T = | J | 2 ℏ 2 ∫ − ∞ + ∞ d t e − i Δ E t / ℏ − g ( t ) {\displaystyle w_{ET}={\frac {|J|^{2}}{\hbar ^{2}}}\int _{-\infty }^{+\infty }dt\,e^{-i\Delta Et/\hbar -g(t)}} With J {\displaystyle J} being

11058-423: The stress. μ = μ o + k ⋅ T ⋅ log ⁡ ( γ ⋅ x ) + Ω ⋅ σ {\displaystyle \mu =\mu ^{o}+k\cdot T\cdot \log(\gamma \cdot x)+\Omega \cdot \sigma } In this equation, μ represents the chemical potential, with μ° being its reference value. T stands for

11172-440: The suppressor grid wired internally to the cathode (e.g. EL84/6BQ5) and those with the suppressor grid wired to a separate pin for user access (e.g. 803, 837). An alternative solution for power applications is the beam tetrode or beam power tube , discussed below. Superheterodyne receivers require a local oscillator and mixer , combined in the function of a single pentagrid converter tube. Various alternatives such as using

11286-418: The table below. The surface topology of the electrode plays an important role in determining the efficiency of an electrode. The efficiency of the electrode can be reduced due to contact resistance . To create an efficient electrode it is therefore important to design it such that it minimizes the contact resistance. The production of electrodes for Li-ion batteries is done in various steps as follows: For

11400-460: The temperature and k the Boltzmann constant . The term γ inside the logarithm is the activity and x is the ratio of the ion to the total composition of the electrode. The novel term Ω is the partial molar volume of the ion in the host and σ corresponds to the mean stress felt by the system. The result of this equation is that diffusion, which is dependent on chemical potential, gets impacted by

11514-436: The topology of the electrode. The properties required depend on the application and therefore there are many kinds of electrodes in circulation. The defining property for a material to be used as an electrode is that it be conductive . Any conducting material such as metals, semiconductors , graphite or conductive polymers can therefore be used as an electrode. Often electrodes consist of a combination of materials, each with

11628-455: The triode caused early tube audio amplifiers to exhibit harmonic distortion at low volumes. Plotting plate current as a function of applied grid voltage, it was seen that there was a range of grid voltages for which the transfer characteristics were approximately linear. To use this range, a negative bias voltage had to be applied to the grid to position the DC operating point in the linear region. This

11742-407: The triode. De Forest's original device was made with conventional vacuum technology. The vacuum was not a "hard vacuum" but rather left a very small amount of residual gas. The physics behind the device's operation was also not settled. The residual gas would cause a blue glow (visible ionization) when the plate voltage was high (above about 60 volts). In 1912, de Forest and John Stone Stone brought

11856-638: The tube were much greater. In a sense, these were akin to integrated circuits. In the United States, Cleartron briefly produced the "Multivalve" triple triode for use in the Emerson Baby Grand receiver. This Emerson set also has a single tube socket, but because it uses a four-pin base, the additional element connections are made on a "mezzanine" platform at the top of the tube base. By 1940 multisection tubes had become commonplace. There were constraints, however, due to patents and other licensing considerations (see British Valve Association ). Constraints due to

11970-404: The tubes' heaters to be supplied from a common circuit (which can be AC without inducing hum) while allowing the cathodes in different tubes to operate at different voltages. H. J. Round invented the indirectly heated tube around 1913. The filaments require constant and often considerable power, even when amplifying signals at the microwatt level. Power is also dissipated when the electrons from

12084-478: The tubes) without requiring replacement. When triodes were first used in radio transmitters and receivers, it was found that tuned amplification stages had a tendency to oscillate unless their gain was very limited. This was due to the parasitic capacitance between the plate (the amplifier's output) and the control grid (the amplifier's input), known as the Miller capacitance . Eventually the technique of neutralization

12198-406: The vacuum, a process called thermionic emission . This can produce a controllable unidirectional current though the vacuum known as the Edison effect . A second electrode, the anode or plate , will attract those electrons if it is at a more positive voltage. The result is a net flow of electrons from the filament to plate. However, electrons cannot flow in the reverse direction because the plate

12312-421: The voltage applied to the control grid (or simply "grid") was lowered from the cathode's voltage to somewhat more negative voltages, the amount of current from the filament to the plate would be reduced. The negative electrostatic field created by the grid in the vicinity of the cathode would inhibit the passage of emitted electrons and reduce the current to the plate. With the voltage of the grid less than that of

12426-449: Was also technical consultant to Edison-Swan . One of Marconi's needs was for improvement of the detector , a device that extracts information from a modulated radio frequency. Marconi had developed a magnetic detector , which was less responsive to natural sources of radio frequency interference than the coherer , but the magnetic detector only provided an audio frequency signal to a telephone receiver. A reliable detector that could drive

12540-460: Was an early version of an electrode used to study static electricity . Electrodes are an essential part of any battery . The first electrochemical battery was devised by Alessandro Volta and was aptly named the Voltaic cell . This battery consisted of a stack of copper and zinc electrodes separated by brine -soaked paper disks. Due to fluctuation in the voltage provided by the voltaic cell, it

12654-405: Was called the idle condition, and the plate current at this point the "idle current". The controlling voltage was superimposed onto the bias voltage, resulting in a linear variation of plate current in response to positive and negative variation of the input voltage around that point. This concept is called grid bias . Many early radio sets had a third battery called the "C battery" (unrelated to

12768-604: Was developed whereby the RF transformer connected to the plate (anode) would include an additional winding in the opposite phase. This winding would be connected back to the grid through a small capacitor, and when properly adjusted would cancel the Miller capacitance. This technique was employed and led to the success of the Neutrodyne radio during the 1920s. However, neutralization required careful adjustment and proved unsatisfactory when used over

12882-486: Was not very practical. The first practical battery was invented in 1839 and named the Daniell cell after John Frederic Daniell . It still made use of the zinc–copper electrode combination. Since then, many more batteries have been developed using various materials. The basis of all these is still using two electrodes, anodes and cathodes . 'Anode' was coined by William Whewell at Michael Faraday 's request, derived from

12996-401: Was usually connected to the cathode and its negative voltage relative to the anode repelled secondary electrons so that they would be collected by the anode instead of the screen grid. The term pentode means the tube has five electrodes. The pentode was invented in 1926 by Bernard D. H. Tellegen and became generally favored over the simple tetrode. Pentodes are made in two classes: those with

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