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Re: Vacuum Tubes Come Back
Tesla List wrote:
>
> Subscriber: paul-at-geeky1.ebtech-dot-net Wed Jan 15 21:07:52 1997
> Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 03:08:27 -0500 (EST)
> From: Paul Anderson <paul-at-geeky1.ebtech-dot-net>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Vacuum Tubes Come Back
>
> Well, I thought everyone on the list would find the following article most
> interesting. Here goes:
>
> Progress By Looking Backword
>
> Before transistors, there were vacuum tubes. Now researchers are taking a
> look backward. "We're revisiting vacuum tubes from the 1940s," says
> physicist Griff L. Brilbo, of North Carolina State University. "But now
> we're taking advantage of new materials and computer design tools to
> predict their performance at very high frequencies, for use in radar and
> cellular phones." One difference between the old and the new tubes is
> size. The new tubes are tiny and come in arrays about the size of a match
> head. They are made by "encasing electrodes in diamond, then evacuating
> the air from the interiors," says Science News magazine. "A big
> difference between the new diamond vacuum tubes and the large glass bulbs
> of the 50 years ago is heat. The old tubes had to glow red-hot to emit
> streams of electrons. The new tubes produce current at room temperature."
> Besides being more durable than semiconductors and computer chips, the
> new tubes outperform them at high levels of temperature, voltage, and
> radiation.
>
> Well, judging from the above article, I guess you tube coilers better get
> working, eh? TTYL!
>
I've heard of this from time to time. The new tubes are based upon
field-emission, if memory serves.
- Brent