U.S. Philips Corporation

Johannes H Vasterink

Jan Zwier

Johannes M Van Esdonk

Positive ions generated in a vacuum tube (1) which may detrimentally influence the electron emission of a cathode (3) are trapped by a plate (35). The plate is present in an aperture (36) in a grid (37) to which it is connected via bars (40). The aperture (36) is sufficiently large to pass the generated beam (6), while the bars (40) hardly influence the beam intensity.

Cathode ray tube with an ion trap including a barrier member

In order to improve the stability of a cold cathode (5) of the reverse biased junction type, a vacuum space (2) is coupled with a reservoir (10), within which a source (21) of material reducing the work function, for example caesium, is present. By influencing the vapor pressure and the temperature in component parts (13, 16) of the reservoir (10) and in the source (21), loss of caesium due to adsorption or other phenomena occurring at the emitting surface (8) of the cathode (5) can be compensated for by an incident flow of caesium (25).

Electron emission device provided with a reservoir containing material

The efficiency of a semiconductor cathode can be increased by bombarding the electron-emitting regions (8) with an electron beam (8), which frees the surface from adhered oxygen particles. The electron beam preferably originates from a second semiconductor cathode (42), which has an opening (42) for passing the electron beam (20) of the first semiconductor cathode (20). Alternatively, both semiconductor cathodes can be realized in one semiconductor body.

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Almelo, Netherlands

Johannes H Vasterink