FISSION HEAT DIODE CONVERTER. Period covered: March 7, 1960 to April 30, 1961

Technical Report · Wed May 31 04:00:00 EDT 1961

OSTI ID:4826389

Feaster, G R; Gottlieb, M; Zollweg, R J

Thermionic conversion of fission heat using cesium vapor diodes offers promise as an electrical power source for space vehicles. Research and development work on cesium vapor diodes is reported, as well as a state-of-theart survey and an extensive bibliography. Experimental and/or theoretical results are given in the following areas: effect of gas adsorption on the emission from cesiated tungsten; plasma oscillations; thermal conductivity of cesium vapor; electron scattering in cesium vapor; effect of varying cesium pressure, cathode temperature, and spacing in a cesium cell: construction techniques and materials problems. The use of plasma oscillations to generate alternating current is discussed and an analysis showing that the use of hybrid thermionic- thermoelectric

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corp. Electronic Tube Div., Elmira, N.Y.; and Westinghouse Electric Corp. Research Labs., Pittsburgh
• NSA Number: NSA-16-003937
• OSTI ID: 4826389
• Report Number(s): ASD-TR-61-281
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ADSORPTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CATHODES
CESIUM
CURRENTS
DIODES
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRON TUBES
ELECTRONS
EQUATIONS
FABRICATION
FISSION
GASES
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURED VALUES
OSCILLATIONS
PERFORMANCE
PLANNING
PLASMA
POWER PLANTS
PRESSURE
PRODUCTION
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
SCATTERING
SPACE VEHICLES
TEMPERATURE
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMIONICS
THERMOELECTRIC CELLS
THERMOELECTRICITY
TUNGSTEN
VAPORS
VARIATIONS