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VALVES & THERMIONIC EMISSION


OK, people who speak American English tend to call these tubes. However I ll use the word !alve as I am "ritish and #almost$% speak English rather than American. It s simpler than calling them something like !acuum&state 'hermionic (evices all the time$

Thermionic Emission )etals at room temperature have a lot o* electrons inside them which can move around in response to an applied electromagnetic *ield. However under normal conditions the negative charges on all these electrons are cancelled out b+ the positive charges on the atoms o* the metal. I* we heat up the metal, however, we give the electrons more kinetic energ+. 'his ma+ mean that some have so much energ+ that the+ can ,leap out o* the piece o* metal into its surroundings. However when the+ do this the metal, having lost an electron, now has a positive charge. 'he result is an electrostatic attraction between the #negativel+ charged% electrons that have leapt out o* the metal and the #positivel+ charged% metal the+ have le*t. 'his tends to pull them back. 'he result o* the above is to produce what is called a space charge e**ect. 'he hot metal becomes surrounded b+ a cloud o* electrons, that have -umped out o* the metal, but are then drawn back b+ the attraction between the electron and the metal. 'aken overall, the s+stem is still electricall+ neutral since we have the negative electrons and the positive metal. Add their charges and we still can get .ero. It is -ust that some o* the negative charge is ,displaced *rom the metal to its surrounding. In this case, i* we heat one o* the metal pieces o* our diode valve it becomes surrounded b+ this space charge. 'he usual practice with valves is to use the heated metal as a cathode / i.e. as the part o* the s+stem that will suppl+ electrons when we appl+ suitable voltages. Hence as +ou ll see with the circuit s+mbols shown later, the cathode o*ten has two leads. 'his allows us to pass a current though the cathode and heat it up. 'he above e0planation leaves out lots o* details. 1or e0ample, it is possible *or some material sur*aces to create a space charge around them even i* we use them at room temperature. However here I ll ignore such details as the valves
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that are used most widel+ do re2uire the cathode to be heated *or the valve to work.

'he result is illustrated in the above diagram. 3hen we heat up the metal we get a cloud o* electrons that are ,boiling o** the metal sur*ace and then #usuall+$% *alling back again. 'his propert+ o* ,boiling o** electrons is called ,'hermionic Emission as the emission o* electrons is produced b+ the heat. Diode Valves 'he easiest wa+ to understand how valves work is to start with the simplest t+pes and work upwards to the more complicated ones. 'he most basic was the earliest t+pe that was invented. 'his is the 'hermionic (iode. It basicall+ consists o* two parts or ,Electrodes , surrounded b+ an envelope which allows them to operate in a vacuum.

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'he standard circuit s+mbol *or a diode valve is as shown above. #4lease note, though, that the s+mbols ma+ di**er a little *rom one diagram to another, depending on the pre*erences o* the person who drew the diagram$% 'he anode and cathode are made o* good conductors #e.g. metals%, but are separated b+ an insulating envelope and the vacuum inside. 'o start, lets consider connecting the diode up as shown below.

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Here what we have done is heat the cathode b+ appl+ing a voltage between the two cathode heater leads, H5 and H6. 3e have also connected the cathode and anode together via a resistor. I* we do this we get a surprising result. 3e *ind that the anode develops a negative potential with respect to the cathode, and some current will *low through the resistor. 7ote that in this case the positive and negative signs shown on the above diagram don t represent voltages we have applied *rom an e0ternal source. 'he+ indicate what the valve generates$ 8nless we know what is happening inside the diode this result is pu..ling as we seem to have created electrical power *rom nowhere and perhaps violated the law o* energ+ conservation$ Is this the solution to our global energ+ crisis and we can give up *ossil *uels9... A*raid not. 3hat is happening is that when we heat the cathode we create a cloud o* electrons in the vacuum near the sur*ace o* the cathode. )ost o* these electrons will sta+ near the cathode. "ut a *ew will have energ+ to leap *ar enough *rom the cathode to be able to cross the vacuum and strike the anode. :ince the anode isn t heated, it will grab an+ electrons that hit it, and the+ won t have enough kinetic energ+ to escape it again. As a result a number o* electrons end up sitting on the anode that have crossed the vacuum to reach it. I* we don t connect the anode to an+thing, then as some electrons gather on the
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anode the+ give it a negative charge. 'his would tend to produce a negative potential, which then tends to repel an+ other electrons that approach the anode. Hence unless we give the arriving electrons some wa+ to escape, the+ build up until the+ repel an+ *urther borders$ However i* we connect the anode back to the cathode via an e0ternal resistor, the arrivals can *low back ,home to the cathode via the path through the resistor. As the+ do this, the anode potential relative to the cathode becomes less negative and some more electrons will have enough energ+ to cross the vacuum gap, thus continuing the *low. 'he broken blue lines with arrowheads in the above diagram show the direction o* the electron *low. However note that *or da*t historical reasons we de*ine ,conventional current to be in the opposite direction to the actual electron *low. 'hus in conventional terms we d sa+ a current *lows through the resistor *rom ; to A #positive to negative potential%. 'he energ+ which we see dissipating as the electrons pass through the resistor is part o* the kinetic energ+ which the+ removed *rom the cathode when the+ were *lung out o* it b+ the thermal motions inside the cathode. Hence the energ+ is drawn *rom the heat we supplied to the cathode. Alas, no perpetual motion or energ+ crisis solution, since we have to suppl+ energ+ to the cathode to drive this process. 'he amount o* current we d see will depend on various *actors. 'hese include the temperature o* the cathode, its sur*ace area, the distance to the anode, etc. One o* the most important o* these *actors is the details o* the sur*ace o* the cathode. )ost practical valves have cathodes which are treated or coated to enhance their abilit+ to release electrons when heated. (espite this, with most practical valves, the actual current level we get i* we carr+ out the above e0periment tends to be ver+ small. 'his is 2uite deliberate as in most applications we want the diode to have ver+ low current ,leakage when the potential di**erence between anode and cathode is around .ero volts. In practice it is also usual *or a valve to have an ,Indirectl+ Heated cathode. 'his means that the heater element is a wire inside the cathode, insulated *rom the e0ternal outer sur*ace that acts as the electron emitter<cathode. 'his gives more *le0ibilit+ in choice o* materials, and also helps avoid an+ o* the heater voltages or currents *rom a**ecting signals on the actual cathode. 3hen we wish to represent the presence o* an indirectl+ heated cathode the circuit s+mbol is altered as indicated below.

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In practice it is *airl+ common to simpl+ omit showing the details o* the heater altogether. 'his simpli*ies circuit diagrams since the heater, and the wiring that powers it, can be assumed to be present with almost an+ normal valve used in electronic circuits. As a result man+ diagrams show s+mbols which look like the simple directl+ heated valve t+pe, but are actuall+ onl+ showing the cathode, and omitting showing the heater. 'he giveawa+ *or what is being represented is indicated above. In particular, i* there is onl+ one wire shown connected to the cathode we can assume that the valve is indirectl+ heated, but the heater wiring is being le*t o** the diagram to make the diagram easier to read. 7ote that although the above shows diode valves, the same conventions tend to appl+ *or other *orms o* valve such as triode, pentodes, etc.

(IO(E: = '>IO(E:
Diode Characteristics 7ow consider what happens when we deliberatel+ appl+ a potential di**erence between the cathode and the anode and look to discover what e**ect that will have on the *low o* electrons.

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'he diagram above illustrates what happens when we appl+ a potential di**erence between the anode and the cathode. #7ote that the heater is working, and the cathode is hot, but the heater isn t shown.% 3hen we appl+ a voltage to make the anode positive with respect to the cathode we attract the electrons in the vacuum space towards the anode, and push them awa+ *rom the cathode. 'his has the e**ect o* making it easier *or electrons to reach the anode. It also tends to reduce the densit+ o* electrons near the cathode, making it easier *or more to ,boil o** the cathode. 'he result is that when we appl+ a potential di**erence this wa+ around we tend to increase the rate at which electrons *low *rom cathode to anode. 'hus, making the anode positive relative to the cathode increases the current *low. 'his sign o* applied potential is called 1orward "ias. 3hen we appl+ a voltage the other wa+ around, and make the anode negative with respect to the cathode we repel the electrons in the vacuum space awa+ *rom the anode, and make it harder *or them to escape the cathode. :ince the anode isn t hot, it does not tend to release an+ electrons itsel*. 'he result is that when we appl+ a potential di**erence this wa+ around we tend to make it even

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harder *or an+ electrons to cross the vacuum space. 'he current *low is there*ore almost .ero. 'his sign o* applied potential is called >everse "ias. I* +ou look in a basic te0tbook on 4h+sics or Electronics +ou ma+ *ind an anal+sis o* the behaviour o* a pair o* metal plates, one o* which is heated. 'his leads to an algebraic e0pression that describes how the current tends to var+ with the applied voltage. 'his has the *orm

where is the anode&cathode current, is the potential di**erence between anode and cathode, and is a *actor whose value depends on the si.e and shape o* the anode, cathode, etc. 'his relationship is called ;hild s ?aw. However we should treat this result with caution as it makes some simpli*+ing assumptions that o*ten do not describe a practical valve ver+ well. It also ignores the small ,leakage o* current we described earlier that occurs even i* we don t appl+ an+ e0ternal voltage. (espite these words o* caution, the basic behaviour is that when *orward biassed, the current tends to rise rapidl+ as we increase the voltage, and when reverse biassed, the current is almost nil. 'his is the basic recti*+ing behaviour which we associated with diodes in electronics. 'he variation o* current with voltage is also nonlinear, and the device does not obe+ Ohm s ?aw. Hence we can also use valve diodes as nonlinear devices. It is 2uite common *or the makers to put two actual diode arrangements into one vacuum container, and hence make a valve that *unctions as a pair o* diodes. '+picall+, the circuit s+mbols *or these show two anodes and one cathode. since that is the usual arrangement. The Triode (iodes are use*ul *or tasks like recti*+ing, but to obtain gain and be able to ampli*+ signals di**erent *orms o* valve were developed. 'he simplest o* these is the 'riode. As the name implies, this has three electrodes whereas a diode has -ust two. 'he e0tra electrode is called a @rid as this describes its usual ph+sical *orm.

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'he above diagram represents a triode arrangement. 'he grid is a *ine mesh or winding o* wire, placed in between the anode and cathode. 8suall+ it is located much nearer to the cathode than the anode. 3e can now consider appl+ing potential di**erences in two wa+sA

, a potential di**erence between anode and cathode. , a potential di**erence between grid and cathode.

'hese

are

applied

as

indicated

in

the

above

diagram.

Electrons in the space charge region near the cathode now e0perience an electric *ield which has two components & that due to the anode, and that due to the grid. 'he electric *ield produced b+ a potential di**erence depends on how close together the ob-ects are located. :ince the grid is close to the cathode, a given voltage on the grid e0erts much more *orce on electrons near the cathode than would the same voltage on the more distant anode. 'his means the current is much more sensitive to changes in the grid voltage than to changes in the anode voltage.
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'o understand what this implies we can use an e0ample. ?et s assume that we have a triode where the distance between the anode and cathode is 5B mm, but the grid is -ust 5 mm *rom the cathode. 3e start o** b+ appl+ing a potential o* C6BB !olts to the anode with respect to the cathode. 'his has the e**ect o* producing an electric *ield near the cathode o* C6BB<5B D 6B !olts<mm which tends to tr+ and accelerate electrons in the space towards the anode. 'he result o* this *ield will be to tend to set up a stead+ *low o* electrons, and hence a large anode&cathode current. However, i* we now appl+ a potential o*, sa+, &5B !olts to the grid with respect to the cathode this produces an electric *ield near the cathode o* &5B<5 D &5B !olts<mm. One o* the basic rules o* electromagnetic *ields in space is 1ield :uperposition. 'his means that we can -ust add together the *ields produced b+ di**erent elements or ob-ects provided we get the signs and directions correct. In this case, the values above mean that we d get a resulting *ield near the cathode o* 6B & 5B D 5B !olts<mm. 'he result o* the &5B !olts on the grid is almost as i* we had turned down the anode voltage attracting the electrons b+ 5BB !olts$ Indeed, i* we d increased the grid voltage to &6B !olts, the electrons near the cathode would see no net electric *ield due to the presence o* the anode and grid, and the *low *rom cathode to anode would drop to almost .ero. As a result o* the *ield superposition, and having the grid near the cathode, we can there*ore use relativel+ small voltage variations on the grid to control, var+, or even cut o**, the anode&cathode current level. 'his behaviour is the basis o* how we can then use valves like a 'riode to ampli*+ signals. A small change in grid voltage can be used to produce much larger variations in voltage and current at the anode. 3e can use a modi*ied version o* the ;hild s ?aw e2uation to estimate what we can e0pect the anode&cathode current we get to appro0imatel+ be

when *orward biassed, and .ero / as with the diode / when reverse biassed. However in this case ,*orward bias means that on both the applied 'he , so depends potentials.

value is o*ten called the valve s Amplification Factor. 'he value *or a
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given design o* valve will depend on various details / the obvious one being that we get a higher value i* we can hold the grid ver+ near to the cathode. However there are all kinds o* detailed e**ects and problems I have ignored here, which also limit what can be made. In practice, real triodes tend to have ampli*ication *actor values somewhere in the range 5B / 5BB. :ince we tr+ to put the grid near the cathode, we can e0pect it to be in or near the region where the space charge densit+ is signi*icant. Hence there is a tendenc+ *or the grid to pick up a *low o* electrons *rom the space charge cloud o* electrons, unless we appl+ a large enough negative voltage to the grid to push the electrons awa+, close to the cathode, and cut o** the *low through the valve. 'his is leads to one o* the possible di**iculties o* tr+ing to make a triode with a high ampli*ication *actor. It tends to mean putting the grid closer to the cathode, where the charge densit+ is high, and more electrons then tend to hit the grid. In normal use, most o* the electrons tend to *l+ through the gaps between the wires o* the grid, but some will hit the grid and be lost *rom the anode&cathode current. ;utting down on the si.e o* the wires in the grid, or placing them *urther apart ma+ reduce the grid current. Alas, it also tends to weaken the abilit+ o* the grid to appl+ an electric *ield to its surroundings, so reducing the ampli*ication *actor *or that reason.

A)4?I1IE> = )O>E ;O)4?I;A'E( !A?!E:


I* +ou have an interest in a topic like audio<hi&*i +ou ma+ alread+ know that valve ampli*iers are still popular with some enthusiasts. 'hese don t all use triodes. Instead, some use 4entodes. As the name implies, a pentode has *ive electrodes / a cathode, an anode, and three grids. 'hese e0tra grids are included to tr+ and deal with some o* the practical drawbacks o* the triode.

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'he usual s+mbol *or a pentode valve is shown above. 'he ,;ontrol @rid is the electrode that acts in the same wa+ as the single grid in a triode. i.e. it is where we input the signal that controls the anode&cathode current. 'he ,:uppressor @rid and ,:creen @rid are the additional electrodes. 'o understand their purpose let s consider some o* the practical problems that arise with the triode valve. 3e can do this b+ using the circuits shown below.

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'he above illustration shows two simple arrangements that we might use as e0perimental ampli*iers. In each case the intention is that we use the control #signal% grid *or our input and the anode *or our output. 8suall+, we want the ampli*ier to provide a reasonabl+ large voltage gain. 'his means that when we change the input voltage, , b+ a small amount we wish to arrange that the output, , changes b+ a much larger amount. 'he arrangement on the le*t uses a triode. 'hat on the right uses a pentode. 7ote that the above circuits aren t actuall+ ver+ use*ul as practical ampli*iers, so i* +ou look in te0tbooks +ou will see various, more comple0, arrangements which di**er in detail *rom the above. However the simple circuits illustrated above will serve to show the *unctions o* the new grids. :ince we have arranged *or both circuits to show a high gain, we can e0pect that when we change b+ a small amount, , will change b+ a much larger amount. 7ow in practice the electrodes are all conducting ob-ects placed close together. 'his means there will be some capacitance between them. 'he result is that to change the potential di**erences between the electrodes we have to charge<discharge these capacitances. 'his means that we ma+ have to provide 2uite high input currents to the control grid i* we wish to change the grid
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voltage #and hence also the anode voltage ver+ 2uickl+. 'his tends to restrict the abilit+ o* the triode to ampli*+ at high *re2uencies. 'he pentode s :creen @rid is used as an electrostatic screen in between the control grid and the anode. 'his grid is held at a stead+ potential midwa+ between that on the anode and the cathode or control grid, so tends to ,shield the control grid *rom seeing the changes in potential o* the anode. Hence it tends to reduce the e**ective capacitance between the control grid and the anode. 'he result is that less current is needed to drive the input signal variations o* the control grid, making it easier *or the valve to be used at higher *re2uencies than a triode. :ome valves onl+ have two grids / the control grid and the screen grid / and are called tetrodes. However simple tetrodes have their own problems. :ome o* the electrons which travel *rom the cathode and hit the anode ma+ arrive with enough kinetic energ+ to knock *ree some electrons *rom the anode. 'hese ma+ then inter*ere with the valve operation in various wa+s. An+ that remain around the anode ma+ produce an unwanted negative space charge which will deter *resh electrons *rom arriving *rom the cathode. Others ma+ strike the grids, or even the cathode, again producing unwanted *lows o* charge that degrade the operation o* the valve. 'his problem can become particularl+ noticable i* we allow the variations o* the anode voltage to swing the anode s potential to being negative compared with the screen grid. 3hen this happens we could get 2uite a large unwanted *low o* electrons *rom the anode to the screen, and the result is a distortion or ,kink in the wa+ the anode voltage varies as we change the input voltage on the control grid. 'he :uppressor @rid is emplo+ed to catch electrons that have been released *rom the anode. 'his grid uses -ust a *ew wires, placed near the anode, and usuall+ connected to the cathode potential. )ost o* the electrons coming *rom the cathode *l+ through the gaps in all the grids as the+ have been given a lot o* kinetic energ+ b+ the cathode&anode potential di**erence. :o most o* them whi.. past the wires in the grids. However most o* the electrons knocked out o* the anode will have a relativel+ small amount o* kinetic energ+, As a result, the+ tend either to *all back to the anode, or dri*t into the nearest grid / which is now the suppressor grid. Having done this, the+ don t have an+ e**ect on the input current re2uired to drive the control grid, and have little e**ect on the valve s gain, etc. 'he above e0planations are 2uite simpli*ied, but should indicate wh+ pentodes ma+ be pre*erred over triodes o* we wish to obtain high gain and high
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bandwidth. 'he details o* the bias arrangements in practical circuits will var+ according to the re2uirements #and the pre*erences o* the designer$% but the basic idea is thatA 'he ;ontrol @rid is normall+ used to input the signal to be ampli*ied 'he :uppressor @rid is normall+ connected to the same potential as the cathode so as to sweep awa+ an+ unwanted electrons liberated *rom the anode. 'he :creen @rid is normall+ connected to a stead+ potential somewhere in between the anode and cathode potentials, and shields the input signal *rom seeing a large input capacitance.

In practice it is 2uite common *or a single valve ,envelope to contain two actual valve devices. 'his helps keep down the weight and si.e o* the devices, and ma+ allow them to share a heating arrangement *or their cathodes.

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'he above shows an e0ample o* a simple, perhaps old&*ashioned, hi&*i power ampli*ier design *rom the 5EFB s<5EGB s. 'he details o* this circuit are too comple0 to deal with here, but i* +ou e0amine the circuit diagram +ou can see that although it shows *our gain devices, the+ are actuall+ paired. 'he valves shown as !HA and !H" are in the same glass envelope and sold as an ,E;?IG . :imilarl+, !JA and !J" are another E;?IG. Kou will also see that the above diagram does show the output devices #!H " and !J"% as onl+ having two grids, which implies the+ are tetrodes. In *act audio output valves o*ten emplo+ed another *orm o* valve called the ,"eam 'etrode . 'he most well&known e0amples in the 8K being the K'GG and K'II. 'hese tetrodes onl+ have connections *or *our electrodes, but the+ include a pair o* ,beam *orming plates that direct the electron *lows. 'hese plates are internall+ connected to the cathode, and serve the same *unction as the suppressor grid. 'he ,K' in the t+pe numbers *or the K'GG and K'II stands *or ,Kinkless 'etrode . It lets us know that although these valves onl+ apparentl+ have *our electrodes, the+ have been modi*ied internall+ to remove the ,kink in the trans*er curve which I mentioned earlier. 'he above is onl+ a ver+ brie* introduction to the *amil+ o* thermionic valves. Although the+ have largel+ been replaced b+ solid&state devices in most applications, valves are still used *or special purposes, and some audio enthusiasts continue to pre*er valve ampli*iers *or listening to music.

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