Thermionic Emission

Thermionic emission is the emission of electrons from a heated metal surface.

Factors that influence the rate of thermionic emission

Temperature (dependent on current)
the hotter the temperature, the higher the rate

Surface area
the larger the area, the higher the rate

Type of metal
different metals have different rates of emission

Metal surface
if coated with a mixture of barium oxide or strontium oxide, the rate is increased

Cathode Ray
It is a beam of fast moving electrons in a vacuum. Can be produced at the cathode by thermionic emission in a vacuum tube

Properties of Cathode Ray

Can be used in picture tube of a television, cathode ray oscilloscope, and the visual display on a radar screen Movement is in a straight line because it is light and has high velocity. Has momentum and energy; fluorescent effect when connects with fluorescent items. Negatively charged deflected towards positive plates. Can be deflected by electric and magnetic fields. When collides with metal targets, kinetic energy 99% light and X-rays (produce fluoresccence)

Cathode Ray Oscilloscope(CRO)

Main Parts Electron gun

Components Filament Cathode Control grid

Functions To heat up the cathode To emit electrons To control the brightness of the spot on the screen by controlling the number of electrons reaching the screen

Focusing anode To focus the electrons onto the screen Accelerating anode Deflecting X-plates Y-plates To accelerate the electrons to high speed towards the screen To deflect the electrons horizontally To deflect the electrons vertically

Screen

Fluorescent screen

To convert the kinetic energy of the colliding electrons into light energy

CRO can be used to measure d.c and a.c voltages.

 Kinetic energy of an electron n a vacuum tube is??

Speed of Cathode Rays

If potential energy provided by the potential difference = eV and kinetic energy is mv2, the relationship of a cathode ray is:

Cathode ray oscilloscopes are used to:

Measure potential difference Measure short time intervals Display wave forms

Semiconductor Diodes
Materials usually used in the electronics industry as semiconductors are silicone and germanium. Doping process is the addition of a small quantity of foreign objects into a semiconductor to increase its conductivity. The atom size of the foreign object has to be about the same size as the atom size of the semiconductor.

 A diode consists of a combination of an n-type and a p-type semiconductor.

 At the junction of these two semiconductors, the electrons from the n-type semiconductor will float over to fill up the holes in the p-type semiconductor. This will cause opposite charges to exist within the semiconductors; and this will create a voltage junction which prevents further floatation of the electrons. A layer about 1 m will exist at the voltage junction known as a depletion layer. Junction voltages for silicone and germanium are approximately 0.6 V and 0.1 V respectively

Diodes as Rectifiers
Rectification
the process of converting a.c. to d.c. This is done with a diode as diodes allow current to flow only in one direction.

Half Wave Rectification

Single diode is used The output voltage produced is varying, but it acts in one direction only.

 Can be produced by using four diodes A capacitor is used to smooth the rectified output voltage