Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF TANTALUM, TUNGSTEN, RHENIUM, AND IRIDIUM IN PLASMA DIODES

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4721403· OSTI ID:4721403
Experimental determinations of the ionic and electronic emission characteristics of tantalum, tungsten, rhenium, and iridium cathodes in vapor thermionic converters are compared. It is shown that tantalum provides superior thermal ionization qualities at high pressure compared with tungsten, rhenium, and iridium. High electronic current densities may be obtained from cesium on rhenium and cesium on iridium at much lower cesium vapor pressures than for tantalum or tungsten. (auth)
Research Organization:
California. Univ., Livermore. Lawrence Radiation Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
NSA Number:
NSA-17-008952
OSTI ID:
4721403
Report Number(s):
UCRL-6809(Rev.1)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English