Energy conversion using high charge density

Abstract

Disclosed are apparatus and method for obtaining energy from high electrical charge density entities. The energy may be received by the conductor of a traveling wave device positioned along the path which the propagating entities follow. Multiple traveling wave devices may be combined. Energy output from a traveling wave device may also be directed to the generation of a subsequent such entity. Thermal energy may also be obtained from an EV.

Cross reference to related applications

This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/183,506 filed May 3, 1988, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/137,244, filed Jan. 6, 1988, now abandoned.

Background of the invention

Field of the invention

The present invention pertains to the production, manipulation and exploitation of high electrical charge density entities. More particularly, the present invention relates to high negative electrical charge density entities, generated by electrical discharge production, and which may be utilized in the transfer of electrical energy.

Brief description of prior art

Intense plasma discharges, high intensity electron beams and like phenomena have been the subjects of various studies. Vacuum Arcs Theory and Application, Edited by J. M. Lafferty, John Wiley & Sons, 1980, includes a brief history of the study of vacuum discharges, as well as detailed analyses of various features of vacuum arcs in general. Attention has been focused on cathode spots and the erosion of cathodes used in producing discharges, as well as anode spots and structure of the discharges. The structure of electron beams has been described in terms of vortex filaments. Various investigators have obtained evidence for discharge structures from target damage studies of witness plate records formed by the incidence of the discharge upon a plane plate interposed in the electrical path of the discharge between the source and the anode. Pinhole camera apparatus has also disclosed geometric structure indicative of localized dense sources of other radiation, such as X-rays and neutrons, attendant to plasma focus and related discharge phenomena.

Examples of anomalous structure in the context of a plasma environment are varied, including lightning, in particular ball lightning, and sparks of any kind, including sparks resulting from the opening or closing of relays under high voltage, or under low voltage with high current flow. The use of a dielectric member to constrain or guide a high current discharge is known from studies of charged particle beams propagating in close proximity to a dielectric body. In such investigations, the entire particle flux extracted from the source was directed along the dielectric guide. Consequently, the behavior of the particle flux was dominated by characteristics of the gross discharge. As used herein, "gross discharge" means, in part, the electrons, positive ions, negative ions, neutral particles and photons typically included in an electrical discharge. Properties of particular discrete structure present in the discharge are not clearly differentiated from average properties of the gross discharge.

In such studies utilizing a dielectric guide, the guide is employed wholly for path constraint purposes. Dielectric guides are utilized in the context of the present invention for the manipulation of high charge density entities as opposed to the gross discharge. The structure in plasma discharges which has been noted by prior investigators may not reflect the same causal circumstances, nor even the same physical phenomena, pertinent to the present invention. Whereas the high charge density entities of the present invention may be present, if unknown, in various discharges, the present invention discloses an identification of the entities, techniques for generating them, isolating them and manipulating them, and applications for their use. The technology of the present invention defines, at least in part, a new technology with varied applications, including, but not limited to, execution of very fast processes, transfer of energy utilizing miniaturized components, time analysis of other phenomena and spot production of X-rays.

An explanation and a discussion of the historical treatment of zero-point energy of the vacuum are given by Timothy H. Boyer in "The Classical Vacuum," in Scientific American, p. 70 (August, 1985). R. L. Forward, "Extracting Electrical Energy from the Vacuum by Cohesion of Charged Foliated Conductors," Phys. Rev. B 30, 1700 (1984) discusses the possibility of obtaining electrical energy from the zero-point energy.

Summary of the invention

The present invention involves a high charge density entity which I believe is a relatively discrete, self-contained, negatively charged, high density state of matter that appears to be produced by the application of a high electrical field between a cathode and an anode. I have named this entity ELECTRUM VALIDUM, abbreviated "EV," from the Greek "elektron" for electronic charge, and from the Latin "valere" meaning to have power, to be strong, and having the ability to unite. As will be explained in more detail hereinafter, EV's are also found to exist in a gross electrical discharge. In the present invention there are derived discrete EV's comprising individual EV's as well as EV "chains" identified hereinbelow. Regardless of the nature of the phenomena, charged particles are produced such that plural discrete optical energy pulses are derived in a channel or slot of a dielectric in response to a single voltage pulse being applied to the cathode.

For ease of reference the charged particles which produce these pulses are reference to herein as EV's. It is an object of the present invention to obtain electrical energy from an EV propagating, for example, by an electrical conductor arrayed in periodic form, or by a conducting body having one or more openings through which electromagnetic radiation may pass. Thermal energy may also be obtained upon the collection or dissipation of an EV. It is yet another object of the invention to propagate an EV by a traveling wave conductor, or a conductor with radiation emission ports, and to extract energy converted from the vacuum by means the EV. Multiple traveling wave devices may be joined together in a single circuit. An EV used to extract electrical energy may be so used again in a circulator; dc electrical energy from such an EV may be used to generate another EV used to obtain electrical energy.

Further, energy from the traveling wave conductor of a traveling wave device may be used to generate another EV. A bank or a stack of traveling wave devices may be formed to obtain electrical energy.

Brief description of the drawings

(Ninety-seven figure captions omitted for length; the complete text is at the source.)

Description of preferred embodiments

1. Definition and some EV properties

What is referred to herein as an EV is a discrete, contained, bundle of charged particles which are predominantly electrons. While not yet fully understanding the configuration of an EV, I believe the containment to be due to electromagnetic fields set up between the electrons within the bundle, based upon my many observations of EV behavior. This, of course, is in sharp contrast to a conventional electron beam in which the containment of electrons is due either to an external electrostatic field or an external magnetic field. As is well known in the art, electrons, each being negatively charged, tend to repel each other. It should also be appreciated that even though the EV is a contained bundle of electrons, it does prefer to communicate with other objects or entities, such as other EV's, dielectrics and electrodes, for example, as contrasted with going off on its own, and tends to come apart after some period of time if there is nothing with which to communicate.

Primary characteristics of an EV include its relatively small size (for example on the order of one micrometer in lateral dimension, but can be larger or as small as 0.1 micrometer), and high, uncompensated electron charge (that is, without positive ions, or at least with an upper limit of one ion per 100,000 electron charges), typically on the order of 10¹¹ electron charges. The minimum charge observed for a one micrometer EV is 10⁸ electron charges. The velocity attained by an EV under applied fields (on the order of one tenth the speed of light) indicates that the EV charge-to-mass ratio is similar to that of an electron, and deflection of EV's by fields of known polarity shows that EV's respond as electrons, that is, as negatively charged entities.

As best as can be determined at present, the shape of an EV is most likely generally spherical, but may be toric, and could have fine structure. As schematically illustrated in FIG. 60, an EV is illustrated as having a central sphere 800 of contained electrons, surrounded by an electromagnetic field 801. Coupling between EV's produces quasi stable structures. However, lone EV's are rarely observed EV's exhibit a tendency to link up like beads in a chain, for example, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 61, wherein the EV beads in the chain may be somewhat free to rotate or twist about each other under the influence of external forces or internal forces. The chains, which are closed, may be observed to form ring-like structures as large as 20 micrometers in diameter, and multiple chains may also unite and mutually align in relatively orderly fashion. In the chain 810 of FIG. 61, the ten EV's 812, 814, 816, 818, 820, 822, 824, 826, 828 and 830 are shown generally in a circular pattern.

Spacing of EV beads in a chain is normally approximately equal to the diameter of the individual beads. Spacing of one chain ring from another is on the order of one ring diameter. A one micrometer wide ring of ten EV beads, which is the typical number of beads in a chain, may include 10¹² electron charges. Individual EV beads may be observed within a chain ring. An EV entity, which is in the nature of a non-neutral electron plasma, is most strongly bound, with the binding force between EV beads in a chain being weaker, and finally the binding between chains of beads being the weakest. However, all of the binding energies appear to be greater than chemical binding energy of materials. Additional EV properties are discussed hereinafter.

2. Generators

An EV may be generated at the end of an electrode that has a sufficiently large negative voltage applied to it. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an EV generator, shown generally at 10, including a cathode 12 generally in the form of an elongate rod having a neck portion 12a ending in a point and directed generally downwardly toward an anode plate 14 separated from the cathode by an intervening dielectric plate 16. As indicated in the drawing, the anode, or collector electrode, 14 is maintained at a relatively positive voltage value, which may be ground, and a negative pulse on the order of 10 kv is applied to the cathode 12 to generate an intense electric field at the point of the cathode. With the resulting field emission at the cathode tip. One or more EV's are formed, generally in the vicinity of where the point of the cathode approaches or contacts the dielectric at A. The EV's are attracted to the anode 14, and travel across the surface of the dielectric 16 toward the anode, generally along a path indicated by the dashed line B, for example, as long as the dielectric surface is uncharged.

Propagation of one, or several EV's, along the dielectric surface appears to leave the surface locally charged. A subsequent EV will follow an erratic path on the surface unless the surface charge is first dispersed, as discussed in detail hereinafter. The insulating dielectric plate 16, which is preferably of a high quality dielectric, such as quartz, prevents a direct discharge between the cathode 12 and the anode 14, and provides a surface along which the EV's may travel. If desired, a witness plate 18 may be positioned adjacent the anode 14 to intercept the EV's from the cathode 12. The witness plate 18 may be in the form of a conducting foil which will sustain visible damage upon impact by an EV.

Thus, the witness plate 18 may be utilized to detect the generation of EV's as well as to locate their points of impact at the anode 14. Additionally, an EV propagating across the dielectric surface will make an optically visible streak on the surface. As discussed in further detail hereinafter, other components may be utilized in conjunction with the generator 10 to further manipulate and/or exploit the EV's thus generated. The generator 10 may be located within an appropriate enclosure (not shown) and thus operated in vacuum or in a controlled gaseous atmosphere as desired. In general, all of the components disclosed herein may be so positioned within appropriate enclosures to permit selection of the atmosphere in which the components are operated. Terminals or the like, and gas transmission lines may be utilized to communicate electrical signals and selected gas at desired pressure through the enclosure walls.

The scale indication of 10 mm included in FIG. 1 is a typical dimension for EV generating components. Generally, when EV's are generated and manipulated in small numbers, they can be made and guided by small structures. Even when large structures are used, an EV seeks the smallest details of the gross structures and is guided by them and interacts most actively with them, leaving the larger details unattended. To a first approximation, generation and manipulation of individual EV beads may be accomplished with structures having overall dimensions of as little as ten micrometers. Generally, very stable materials are desired for use in the construction of structures to generate, manipulate and exploit EV's, including refractory metals and dielectrics chosen to approach as closely as possible the binding energy of an EV, so as to preserve the life of the structures. Some dielectric materials, such as low melting point plastic, are not as preferable as other materials, for example, such as ceramic.

With any type of EV generator, and whether dc or a pulse signal is applied to the cathode, it is necessary to complete the current flow path around a loop by using an electrode of some type to collect the EV (except in the case of "electrodeless" sources as discussed hereinafter). Another form of EV generator is shown generally at 20 in FIG. 3, and includes a cylindrically symmetric cathode 22 having a conical end facing but displaced from an anode/ collector electrode 24 which is also cylindrically symmetric. An operating circuit includes a load resistor 26 connecting the anode 24 to ground, while a current limiting input resistor 28 is interposed between the cathode 22 and an input terminal 30. The anode 24 is equipped with an output terminal 32 to which may be connected ancillary equipment.

For example, detection equipment (not shown), such as an oscilloscope, may be joined to the system by terminal 32 whereby the impact of EV's on the anode may be noted. An enclosure, such as within a cylindrical glass tube 34, may be provided whereby the environment in the gap between the cathode 22 and the anode 24 may be controlled, and maintained either in vacuum or at a selected gas pressure. The tubing 34 may be appropriately sealed and fitted with communication lines (not shown) to a vacuum pump and/or gas supply to control the environment within the tube. The cathode 22 may be driven by a negative-going pulse, or a direct current, of approximately 2 kv relative to the anode. The length of the negative pulse may be varied from a few nanoseconds to dc without greatly influencing the production of EV's. Under long pulse length conditions, the input resistor 28 must be chosen to prevent a sustained glow discharge within the glass tube.

Under high vacuum conditions, or low pressure such as 10⁻³ torr, the discharge is easily quenched and the resistor 28 may be eliminated, but for a gaseous environment of higher pressure, a value of the resistor must be chosen that is consistent with the gas pressure used so as to quench the discharge. For operation in both a vacuum and gaseous regime using a pulse length of 0.1 microsecond, for example, a typical resistor value of 500 to 1500 ohms can be used. In high vacuum operation of the generator 20, the spacing between the cathode 22 and the anode 24 should preferably be less than 1 mm for a 2 kv signal applied to the cathode. For operation in gases at pressures of a few torr, the distance between the cathode 22 and the anode 24 may be increased to over 60 cm provided a ground plane 36 is used adjacent the glass tubing as shown. The ground plane 36 may extend partly around the tubing 34, or even circumscribe the tube.

For particular applications, the glass tube 34 can be replaced by other structures to guide EV's, as discussed hereinafter, and various circuits can be devised to take advantage of various EV properties.

(Sections 3–30 — cathodes, separators, RC, gaseous, optical and LC guides, surface sources, surface charge suppression, launchers, selectors, splitters, deflection switches, the EV oscilloscope, the electron camera, multielectrode and electrodeless sources, travelling-wave components, pulse generators, field emission sources, X-ray, electron and RF sources, channel sources, circulators and wigglers, the flat panel display, LRC guides, the analogue-to-digital encoder and crossed guides — are omitted for length; the complete text is at the source.)

31. Energy converters

From the discussion above regarding traveling wave circuits, it is clear that electrical energy may be obtained from an EV utilizing, for example, a traveling wave tube as illustrated in FIG. 50, or a planar traveling wave circuit as shown in FIG. 51. Energy from the EV is obtainable in the form of an electromagnetic pulse output from the traveling wave tube wire helix 564 or the planar circuit serpentine 588. This output signal is, in general, in the form of a negative pulse whose wave form is a function of the gas pressure. For minimal gas pressure, a relatively sharp negative pulse with no trailing portion is obtainable. Repeated EV propagation along the traveling wave conductor 564 or 588 results in a traveling wave output whose long term voltage average is zero; the traveling wave output is therefore ac. Energy is also obtainable at the collector electrode 556 or 586 when the EV strikes the electrode in question.

Additionally, electrons emitted by the EV as well as electrons that may have been excited out of the environment, such as out of the guide material of the planar circuit, for example, may reach the collector electrode. Further, if the EV is terminated within the traveling wave or the guide channel prior to reaching the electrode, resulting electrons from the EV may be gathered at the collector. And, in any event, the passage of an EV along the traveling wave tube or the planar traveling wave device results in sudden accumulation of negative charge yielding dc output at the respective collector electrode, and the corresponding energy may be either dissipated or channeled to a useful application. The amount of energy that may be obtained from an EV moving along a traveling wave device is dependent on the several parameters as described in Section 19. Under preferred conditions, considerably more energy is output from the traveling wave device than is necessary to generate the EV.

For example, in the case described in Section 19, with an input pulse of 1 kv through the input resistor 568 of 1500 ohms, and an output pulse of 2 kv through the helix 564 having an impedance of 200 ohms, the ratio of the output peak power to the input peak power is 20,000÷667=30. This result must be multiplied by the ratio of the width of the output pulse to the input pulse width, which was given as 16 ns÷600 ns=0.027. The resulting corrected energy conversion factor is 0.027×30=0.81. However, not all of the input energy is used in generating the EV. A portion of the input energy is lost to excitation of the gas in the traveling wave tube, for example. Under preferred conditions, the gas pressure is reduced to the lowest value that will sustain the EV generation in the tube, or envelope, at the same time losing the trailing portion of the output pulse as discussed above. The EV is formed during a brief portion early in the time of the input pulse, and this fact is reflected in a brief, sharp shoulder in the vicinity of the leading edge of the negative input pulse.

Consequently, with reduced gas pressure in the traveling wave tube, the length of the input pulse may be reduced while still providing a 16 ns long output pulse. With the input pulse length reduced to 5 ns, for example, the corrected energy conversion factor becomes (16÷5)÷30=96. That is to say, with the input pulse length reduced as noted, energy available at the output of the helix of the traveling wave tube is ninety-six times the energy input to the traveling wave tube, in addition to the energy consumed within the traveling wave tube and the energy available in the form of collected particles at the collector electrode. Even a greater energy conversion factor is available if the input pulse is further reduced; an EV may be generated with an input pulse as short as 10⁻³ ns. The EV is a mechanism for tapping a source of energy and providing that energy for conversion to usable electrical form.

As discussed above, a traveling wave device may be operated to output more electrical energy than is supplied by the pulse source to the device to initiate an EV and cause it to propagate along the traveling wave output conductor. Energy conversion to dc electrical output occurs when electrons are freed during passage of an EV along an RC guide, for example, as well as when an EV and/or EV-liberated electrons are captured at a counterelectrode, for example. An EV is formed when the concentration of electrons reaches a threshold, that is, when the charge density is sufficiently high. Then, the charges into the single EV entity. Once the electron cluster has been so formed into an EV, the EV entity is apparently held together. I believe a large portion of the electron charges contained within an EV are masked, so that I believe the EV does not manifest to external measuring devices a charge size equal to the total charge contained within the EV.

As an EV moves through or across a medium, the EV interacts with its environment. For example, an EV moving across a solid surface, such as propagating along an RC guide, can cause photo, field, secondary or thermionic emission of electrons. At least some of these produced electrons may be absorbed by the EV, which may also be emitting electrons. An EV interacting with a gaseous medium causes exitation of the gas molecules to produce streamers as discussed above. A moving EV thus appears to be in an excited state, with continual interaction with nearby matter. The EV is in an unstable state and must generate electrons from its surroundings to absorb to retain that state. The EV may exist in an equilibrium state, even as electrons are absorbed. The emission of electrons by an EV may contribute to its propagation or propulsion. The EV may be propelled by its repulsion by electrons which the EV itself has caused to be produced from the surroundings as well as electrons the EV emits.

Streamers are an indication of an optical mode of propulsion of EV's. An EV which is not interacting with its surroundings, nor emitting electrons that may be detected, yields no visible light and, therefore, its behavior cannot be observed optically. An EV in such a condition is referred to as a black EV. Formation of an EV is a containment process in which the time average of alternating forces acting on the electrons drives them toward the region of weaker high frequency fields at the center of the container. Distortion of the container in optical frequencies, due perhaps to the interaction of the EV with surrounding material, causes the EV to be propelled forward in the direction of the emitted optical radiation, which ionizes matter in that direction, thus attracting the EV. Another mode of propulsion mentioned above involves the emission of electrons from the EV, with the consequent repulsion of the EV from the emitted electrons resulting in separation of the EV from the electrons and therefore propulsion of the EV.

As an EV moves along a guide, or a traveling wave device, the EV may be continually absorbing electrons and, at the same time, emitting electrons. Energy conversion may be occurring in either of these two processes. Energy converted and output by means of an RF source, or a traveling wave tube, for example, in conjunction with the emission of electrons from an EV, is a fission reaction. Energy conversion occurring in conjunction with the introduction of electrons into an EV, or the formation of an EV, is a fusion process. An EV passing along a traveling wave device, for example, may be both absorbing and emitting electrons. In this way, the EV may be considered as being continually formed as it propagates. In any event, energy is provided to the traveling wave output conductor, and the ultimate source of this energy appears to be the zero-point radiation of the vacuum continuum. Energy output realized from a traveling wave device may be treated in a variety of ways.

For example, the energy output from such a device may be utilized in a given application as soon as the energy is obtained. By contrast, the energy may be stored for later use, even after accumulation of a relatively large amount of energy over a period of time. Additionally, two or more traveling wave devices may be operated in some tandem fashion whereby their outputs may be combined, either for storage or for relatively direct use. Further, it will be appreciated that each traveling wave device provides two outputs, one in the form of an ac pulse signal obtained from the helical or serpentine conductor, and the other a dc output obtained from the collection of the EV and/or electrons freed within the traveling wave device. While both energy outputs may be utilized, the ac output is larger. Although any type of traveling wave device may be constructed in very small form to convert energy by way of EV's, microlithographic thin film techniques may be used to advantage to construct multiple planar traveling wave circuits in integrated form.

A planar traveling wave circuit complete with a driving source operated by a triggering source is shown generally at 1120 in FIG. 86. The driver, shown generally at 1122, provides EV's for passage along the standing wave unit, shown generally at 1124. The triggering source, shown generally at 1126, provides EV's for operating the driver 1122, as discussed hereinafter. The three elements 1122-1126 may be constructed utilizing an integrated dielectric base 1128. A single guide channel 1130 extends the length of the driver section 1122 and the length of the traveling wave serpentine section 1128. The guide channel 1130 contains a cathode 1132 at the driver end of the mechanism, and a collector electrode, or anode, 1134, at the opposite end of the groove. A serpentine conductor 1136 lies within the dielectric base 1128 along the groove 1130 in the traveling wave portion of the apparatus, and periodically crosses the groove.

A counterelectrode 1138 is positioned on the bottom of the dielectric base 1128 for the full extent of the length of the serpentine conductor 1136 and beyond. The positioning of the serpentine conductor 1136 and the counterelectrode 1138 relative to the channel 1130 may be more fully appreciated by reference to FIG. 87, which also shows use of an optional dielectric cover 1140 which may be positioned against the top of the dielectric base 1128 to enclose the groove 1130. The cover 1140 may extend over the entire energy converting apparatus 1120 to cover the EV paths as further described hereinafter. In general, the traveling wave element 1124 of the energy conversion apparatus 1120 may be constructed like the planar traveling wave circuit 580 illustrated in FIG. 51. While a variety of sources may be utilized to generate EV's to send along the channel 1130 for interaction with the serpentine of conductor 1136, a field emission source 1122 is included herein.

The generator 1122 is a multi-electrode source, featuring the cathode 1132, which may be pointed, and the counterelectrode, or anode, 1138 extending under the serpentine conductor 1136, as well as a control electrode 1142. The control electrode 1142 may be positioned on the underside of the dielectric base 1128, or embedded within the base. A leg of the control electrode 1142 extends around and under the guide groove 1130 in a position between the end of the cathode 1132 and the beginning edge of the counterelectrode 1138. It will be appreciated that the construction of the generator 1122 is generally along the lines of the multielectrode source illustrated in FIG. 45 and, with the exception of lacking a feedback electrode, is also generally constructed like the field emission source illustrated in FIG. 55. For pure field emission generation of an EV, the entire device 1120 is operated in vacuum, and none of the cathodes is wetted.

A power source 1144 is provided between the grounded counterelectrode 1138 and the cathode 1132 as well as the control electrode 1142 to maintain a constant positive bias on the counterelectrode relative to the other two electrodes. The field emission generator 1122 is operated by pulsing the cathode 1132 negatively with an EV from the secondary emission triggering source 1126. An EV guide channel 1146 extends the length of the triggering generator 1126 and the width of the driver generator 1122, intersecting the EV channel 1130. A cathode 1148 is positioned in the end of the guide channel 1146 in the triggering source 1126, and a collector electrode 1150 may be positioned at the opposite end of the groove 1146. A grounded counterelectrode 1152 underlies the portion of the triggering generator 1126 away from the cathode 1148, but does not extend under the drive generator 1122. The secondary emission source 1126 is also a multielectrode source, having additionally a gate 1154, extending to one side of the EV channel 1146 just beyond the end of the cathode 1148, and a plurality of anodes, or dynodes, 1156 (three are shown), also extending to the side of the EV channel.

A voltage gradient is applied across the plurality of dynodes 1156 by distributing the dynodes along a voltage divider 1158, extending from the negative side of the power source 1144 to the positive side of another constant voltage source 1160, the opposite side of which is connected to the triggering cathode 1148. The gate 1154 is connected to the power source 1160 and the cathode 1148 through a resistor 1162. The triggering source 1126 is an electron multiplier, operating similarly to the channel source illustrated in FIG. 62 to increase electron charge density to the threshold of producing an EV. The interior surface of the EV guide channel 1146, within the extent of the triggering source 1126, may be coated with resistive material to obtain proper potential distribution and field gradient to achieve the electron density gain. The dynodes 1156 are very narrow in the direction of travel of the electrons to obtain the desired voltage gradient in their presence.

Typically, the dynodes 1156 should each be no greater than the width of the guide channel 1146. The counterelectrode 1152 underlying the dynodes 1156 acts to increase their capacity and therefore their energy storage. Application of a negative pulse to the cathode 1148, which may be pointed, from an external source (not shown) begins the process of producing an EV in the multiplier source 1126. Initial gain of electrons is effected in the high gain region preceding the leading edge of the counterelectrode 1152, wherein the gate 1154 is located. With the gate 1154 at a higher electric potential than the negatively pulsed cathode 1148, an electron charge density is formed and grows as it propagates along the channel 1146, gaining electrons from the coated, or doped, wall material. Further multiplication of the electron charge density is effected along the dynodes 1156 until the EV formation threshold is attained.

Then, the EV thus formed continues to propagate along the guide channel 1146 into the driver source 1122 where the EV operates to effect a large, sharp, negative pulse on the driver cathode 1132. Such a fast pulse causes the field emission production of an EV at the cathode 1132 as discussed above. The EV from the triggering source 1126 continues on to the collector electrode 1150, from which the resulting power surge may be taken by a lead 1164. Similarly, the EV generated by the driver source 1122 may be received at the collector electrode 1134, and its resulting power surge withdrawn by means of a lead 1166. The energy received by the serpentine conductor 1136 due to the passage of the EV along the guide channel 1130 is available at a lead 1168. FIG. 88 indicates a modified construction of the traveling wave device 1124 in which the serpentine conductor 1136' is positioned on top of the dielectric base 1128' and therefore overlies the EV guide channel 1130. The counterelectrode 1138 is still positioned on the opposite side of the dielectric base 1128', and a dielectric cover 1140', constructed to receive, or cover, the serpentine conductor 1130, is positioned over the dielectric base 1128', covering the guide channel 1130. With the serpentine conductor 1136' exposed directly to the guide channel 1130, passage of an EV along the guide channel may also result in electrons being collected directly on the serpentine conductor, and therefore adding to the energy available at the output of the serpentine conductor, 1168 as indicated in FIG. 86. The electrons thus collected may come from the EV itself, and/or secondary emission from the walls of the EV guide channel 1130. Although the EV's from the triggering source 1126 may be collected at the electrode 1164, these EV's may alternatively be dissipated by allowing them to pass over a relatively rough surface, without guide walls.

The EV from the drive source 1120 may also be disposed of in a similar fashion. Such energy dissipation is accompanied by the generation of heat in the surfaces used to thus terminate the EV's. This thermal energy may be appropriately harnessed for practical application. Yet another alternative for disposition of the EV's from the triggering source 1126 and/or from the driver source 1122 is to use these EV's in subsequent traveling wave energy conversion devices.

For example, a bank of traveling wave circuits is shown schematically generally at 1170 in FIG. 89. A single dielectric base 1172 has constructed thereon a plurality of traveling wave devices 1174 complete with driver sources. The traveling wave devices 1174 are arranged physically mutually parallel, that is, with their EV guide channels 1176 mutually parallel across the dielectric base 1172. Each traveling wave assembly 1174 includes a driver source cathode 1178 and a collector electrode 1180, positioned at the ends of the guide channel 1176 as shown in FIG. 86, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 89, the serpentine conductor 82 of each of the traveling wave devices is positioned below the corresponding guide channel 1176. At the output side of the dielectric base 1172, a single conductor 1184 connects all of the collector electrodes 1180. The output lead 1186 from each of the serpentine conductors 1182 extends through the face of the dielectric base 1172 below the collector electrode output conductor 1184. An EV guide channel 1188 extends from a single triggering source 1190 and crosses each of the traveling wave device channels 1176 at the driver cathode 1178. The triggering source 1190 has a cathode 1192 at one end of the dielectric base 1172, and a collector electrode 1194 is positioned at the opposite end of the base, both electrodes lying within the EV channel 1188. For purposes of clarity, details of the trigger source 1190 and of the driver sources are not shown in FIG. 89, which sources may be of the types 1126 and 1122, respectively, of FIG. 86. Appropriate circuitry, as generally indicated in FIG. 86, may be applied to connect the various electrodes, dynodes and counterelectrodes (not shown).

Generally, the driver cathodes 1178 may all be connected together, and a single counterelectrode (not shown) made to underlie the plurality of serpentine conductors 1182. A single EV generated by the triggering source 1190 will move along the crossing channel 1188, pulsing each of the driver cathodes 1178 in sequence, resulting in EV's generated and moving along each of the respective traveling wave devices 1174. Thus, a surge of energy output will be available at each of the serpentine conductor output leads 1186 in sequence. The output conductors 1186 may be tapped individually, or connected together. In either event, the entire bank of traveling wave devices 1170 may produce a sequence of energy pulses for each triggering EV generated by the source 1190. Continual operation of the triggering source 1190, then, will produce a virtually continuous energy pulse output from the bank 1170. In addition to the serpentine conductor outputs at the leads 1186, the bank 1170 provides power output at the collector electrodes 1180, available on the conductor 1184. Also, as discussed above, the triggering EV's, which are collected at the electrode 1194, also provide a power source which is available for tapping, or whose energy may be dissipated as discussed above.

Since the physical dimensions of a traveling wave device may be very small, such that microlithographic techniques may be used to construct such a device, the density of such traveling wave devices in the bank 1170 may be relatively high. For example, on the order of one thousand traveling wave devices may be arranged as shown in FIG. 89 on a dielectric base 1192 which is only approximately one inch wide, that is, from the triggering source 1190 to the collector electrode 1194. Similarly, the depth of the traveling wave circuits permits the bank 1170 to be extremely thin. Such dimensional features then permit multiple banks to be stacked one on another or, a three-dimensional stack of traveling wave devices may be constructed in an integrated block dielectric base. Such a stack of traveling wave devices is shown generally at 2000 in FIG. 90, wherein some details of the traveling wave circuits are not shown for purposes of clarity.

The stack 2000 is constructed with a single block dielectric base 2002. Generally, the stack 2000 may be considered to be a pile of banks such as 1170 in FIG. 89. However, the construction of the stack 2000 may be carried out with thin film techniques by producing the various layers in integrated fashion, as well as piling up already-constructed banks 1170. Each layer of the stack 1200 includes an array of a plurality of traveling wave devices 1204, but with a single triggering source 1206 having a single cathode 1208 and a single collector electrode 1210. A single conductor 1212 may join all of the collector electrodes 1210 of the triggering sources of the various layers for dissipation or other disposition of the EV energy collected by the electrodes 1210. In similar fashion, the triggering cathodes 1208 may be all connected together by a single conductor. The collector electrodes of each of the traveling wave devices 1204 in a single layer are shown connected together by a conductor 1214; all of the layer conductors 1214 may also be joined together by a conductor (not shown).

The serpentine conductors (not shown) have output leads 1216 in rows between the collector electrode conductors 1214. The serpentine output conductors 1216 may similarly be connected together by layer, and even all of the serpentine conductor outputs in the block 1202 may be connected together. With further circuitry adapted generally along the lines indicated in FIG. 86, the triggering sources 1206 may be operated in unison, or separately if the triggering cathodes 1208 are not joined together. By selective operation of the triggering sources 1206, and selected arrangement of the output leads from the serpentine conductor outputs 1216, the stack 1200 may be made to operate in a variety of fashions, yielding output pulses which may be combined in parallel or otherwise, with pulses generated in various phase relationships among the layers of traveling wave devices, for example. Again, because of the microminiature dimensions of the elements involved, a stack such as 1200 may typically contain on the order of 1000 layers, or banks, of traveling wave devices in a vertical thickness of approximately one inch.

Consequently, such a stack 1200 may contain a million traveling wave devices 1204 within approximately one cubic inch of volume. For even greater flexibility of operation of a bank or stack of traveling wave devices, individual traveling wave devices may be operated independently, even being provided with their own triggering source. FIG. 91 shows, generally at 1220, a fragment of a traveling wave device stack, including a dielectric base block 1222 in which is arrayed a plurality of traveling wave devices 1224. Details of the traveling wave circuits, discernible from FIG. 86 for example, have been left out of FIG. 91 for purposes of clarity. Each traveling wave device 1224, at least in the top layer illustrated, has an individual triggering source 1226. As illustrated, the guide channel 1228 from the triggering source 1226 is folded so that both of its ends intersect the end face of the dielectric block 1222. Thus, the cathode 1230 of the triggering source 1226 may be contacted at the same face of the dielectric block 1222 at which the triggering source collector electrode 1232 is positioned, with these two elements arranged on opposite sides of the driver cathode 1234 for the individual traveling wave device 1224. The traveling wave device collector electrodes 1236, as well as the serpentine conductor output leads 1238, may be tapped individually, or connected with those of other traveling wave devices in some selected arrangement.

Similarly, the counterelectrodes (not shown) may be connected to a common ground, or treated individually. With independent triggering as provided by the arrangement of FIG. 91, a bank, or stack, of traveling wave devices may be operated in a selected manner, producing output pulses in varying phase relationships, and even combined in selected patterns. The assembling of multiple traveling wave devices in banks or stacks may be more compactly accomplished utilizing planar devices, which may be constructed using thin film techniques, as noted, as opposed to using traveling wave tubes. However, a bank or stack of traveling wave tubes may be constructed as well. Additionally, either type of traveling wave device may be included in various circuits.

For example, FIG. 92 shows a circuit, indicated generally at 1240, including a traveling wave device 1242 in symbol form, representing any type traveling wave device, including a planar device and a traveling wave tube. The traveling wave element 1242 is illustrated in a circuit, indicated generally at 1240, featuring a feedback loop through a regulator 1244. The feedback loop taps some energy from the ac energy output lead 1246 and returns energy to the input lead 1248 to produce a subsequent EV in the traveling wave device 1242. With the circuit illustrated at 1240, a traveling wave device may be initially triggered to produce an EV and convert a larger energy output. A portion of that output, passing through the regulator 1244, is used to produce a subsequent EV for further energy conversion. In this fashion, continued energy conversion is obtained with little or no additional energy input needed to maintain the process.

FIG. 93 illustrates another circuit, shown generally at 1250, in which a plurality of traveling wave devices 1251 have their outputs combined. The output leads from the collector electrodes of the traveling wave devices are combined in parallel in a single lead 1254. The ac energy outputs 1256, from the serpentine conductors or helical coil conductors, of the traveling wave devices are joined in a separate parallel arrangement. Thus, the circuit 1250 may provide two combined energy outputs, one from the direct contact of EV's and/or electrons at the collector electrodes, and the other from the energy conversion process yielding relatively high energy pulses on the traveling wave conductors. Yet another arrangement of output connections is shown in the circuit indicated generally as 1260 in FIG. 94. A plurality of traveling wave devices 1262 is arranged generally in series. The dc output obtained at the collector electrode of a first traveling wave device 1262 is transmitted by an appropriate conductor 1264 to initiate EV production in a second traveling wave device, whose collector electrode output is transmitted to yet another traveling wave device, etc. It will be appreciated that additional biasing energy may need to be applied to the subsequent traveling wave devices in the series to ensure that an EV producing threshold is achieved in each case.

The high energy ac outputs 1266 are shown arranged in parallel in the circuit 1260 as an example. However, the ac outputs 1266 may be treated in any selected fashion independent of the arrangement of the collector electrode outputs. The feature of repeatedly using an EV to convert energy may be embodied in a variation of the circulator discussed above. A traveling wave circulator is shown schematically generally at 1270 in FIG. 95. A dielectric base closed loop 1272 includes a traveling wave conductor 1274, such as a serpentine conductor or a helix conductor as discussed above. EV's are injected into the closed loop 1272 from a feed and exit line 1276 by selected application of deflector fields to switches 1278 and 1280 at the junction between the loop and the line. An EV thus introduced into the closed loop 1272 may continue to circulate in the loop while energy is received by the conductor 1274, and withdrawn by its end output lead 1282. In this way, the same EV may make a plurality of trips about the closed loop 1272 until it is selectively withdrawn by operation of the switches 1278 and 1280, or until the EV terminates within the closed loop.

Additional leads 1284 may be applied to tap energy from the traveling wave conductor 1274 at various locations other than at the end of the conductor. The actual construction of the circulator loop 1272 may take several forms. FIG. 96 illustrates one form utilizing a flat, film type serpentine conductor. The dielectric closed loop base 1290 may be constructed using lithographic techniques as discussed above, and includes an EV guide path 1292 over which is positioned a serpentine conductor 1294. The serpentine conductor is separated from the guide channel 1292 by dielectric material. However, it will be appreciated that the serpentine conductor 1294 may be exposed to the interior of the channel 1292 and, therefore, the EV's circulating therewithin. A counterelectrode 1296 is positioned on the bottom of the dielectric base 1290, opposite the side of the channel 1292 on which is positioned the conductor 1294. The serpentine conductor 1294 may be positioned between the counterelectrode 1296 and the EV channel 1292. A helical traveling wave conductor may also be utilized in a traveling wave circulator.

FIG. 97 shows a circular closed loop dielectric base 1300 enclosing an EV guide channel 1302 surrounded by a helical conductor 1304. The helical conductor 1304, wrapped in the form of a toroid, resides in an appropriate recess 1306 also encircling the EV guide channel 1302. Formulation of the recess 1306, and construction and/or placement of the helical conductor 1304 may be facilitated by forming the dielectric base 1300 in two halves, as indicated by the closed seam 1308. The recess 1306 may be a continuous cylindrical form, or may completely encompass the helical conductor 1304, being a helix itself. The latter construction may be achieved by forming the dielectric base 1300 by thin film techniques, for example. A counterelectrode 1310 is positioned on the bottom surface of the dielectric base 1300. It will be appreciated from the foregoing discussion that a traveling wave device may be constructed in a variety of forms for the purpose of converting energy through the mechanism of an EV passing in the vicinity of a traveling wave conductor.

The EV itself, used to effect the energy conversion and collected on a collector electrode, such as 1134, 1150, 1180, 1194, etc., provides another source of energy. As discussed in Section 7, propagation of an EV in an energy-absorbing gas may produce streamers in the gas; energy from an EV used to trigger an EV source, or to drive a traveling wave device, may be so consumed in a gas environment. As noted above in this section, dissipation of an EV over a relatively rough surface, for example, is accompanied by heat generation. A collected, or propagating, EV may thus yield energy to a heat exchanger used to heat a fluid flow for example, or to a heat absorbing member which also serves as a heat source. The thermal energy obtained from an EV may then be directed to practical applications. Furthermore, an EV used to obtain energy on a traveling wave conductor may be used, directly or by way of its dc pulse output, to generate a subsequent EV either in the same or another traveling wave device, for example.

An appropriate switching technique may be employed in the generation of the subsequent EV. For greater energy efficiency, just as a single EV may be used to trigger multiple EV generators, an EV may be utilized for multiple energy conversions, such as by passing through two or more traveling wave devices, or also by passing through a closed loop circulator device multiple times. Additionally, output energy of a traveling wave device may be tapped to provide the energy necessary to reach an EV producing threshold in the same traveling wave device through an appropriate feedback loop. Multiple traveling wave devices may be formulated in integrated fashion, and operated individually or in selected patterns. In general, the energy outputs of multiple traveling wave devices utilizing EV propagation may be combined in selected patterns. The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the method steps as well as in the details of the illustrated apparatus may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

(42 claims.)

1. An energy converter comprising a source of charged particles; a solid dielectric body having a channel positioned to be responsive to the charged particles; means for accelerating the charged particles in the channel; a slow wave electrical conductor capacitively coupled to the channel and the changed particles; a counter-electrode capacitively coupled to the slow wave electrical conductor, the channel and the electron bundle; means for biasing the slow wave conductor and counter-electrode so that the charged particles propagate along and are guided by the channel and coupled to (a) the solid dielectric body, (b) the slow wave electrical conductor and (c) the counter electrode so the charged particles charge the dielectric and cause a transfer of energy via the dielectric to the slow wave structure; the slow wave structure coupling energy transferred to it via the dielectric to a load.

2. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the source and channel are in a vacuum.

3. The energy converter of claim 2 wherein the source comprises a field emission source.

4. The energy converter of claim 3 wherein the field emission source includes a first charged particle emitting electrode positioned to supply the charged particles to the channel, and means for supplying a field to the first electrode to cause the first electrode to emit the charged particles.

5. The energy converter of claim 4 wherein the field supplying means includes a second charged particle emitting electrode, means for guiding particles emitted by the second electrode into proximity with the first electrode so that the particles emitted by the second electrode establish said field.

6. The energy converter of claim 5 wherein the guiding means includes another channel in a solid dielectric body, the another channel being superposed with the first electrode; and means for accelerating the charged particles from the second electrode in the another channel into proximity with the first electrode.

7. The energy converter of claim 6 wherein a counter-electrode is superimposed with the another electrode, further including a plurality of dynodes at different potentials along the length of the another channel.

8. The energy converter of claim 7 further including a pulse source connected to the second electrode for activating the second charged particles.

9. The energy converter of claim 4 further including a control electrode for the charged particles of the first electrode, the control electrode being between the first electrode and the slow wave structure.

10. The energy converter of claim 1 further including N of the sources, N of the channels, and N of the slow wave conductors, where N is an integer greater than one; each of the sources, channels and slow wave conductors being respectively associated with each other on a one-on-one basis and arranged with the solid dielectric body, the accelerating means and the counter-electrode so that the charged particles propagating along channel k cause a transfer of energy via the dielectric to slow wave conductor, k, where k is selectively every integer from 1 to N, and means for combining the energy in the N slow wave conductors.

11. The energy converter of claim 10 wherein the combining means combines residual energy, not transferred to the slow wave conductor, in the N channels.

12. The energy converter of claim 10 wherein the combining means combines residual energy, not transferred to the slow wave conductor, in the N channels with the energy in the N slow wave conductors.

13. The energy converter of claim 1 further including means for coupling energy derived from the slow wave conductor back to the channel to provide a field for controlling the charged particles propagating from the source to the slow wave conductor.

14. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the channel is surrounded by a solid dielectric.

15. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the channel is substantially straight.

16. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the channel is curved.

17. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the channel is configured to have a re-entrant path and includes a common port for the charged particles entering and leaving the re-entrant path, the common port being coupled to another channel having a junction with the common port so that the charged particles coupled between the another channel and the common port via the junction are not tangent with respect to the propagation direction of the particles in the re-entrant path, and means for selectively deflecting the charged particles entering and leaving the common port from between the another channel and the re-entrant path.

18. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the slow wave conductor is planar with respect to the channel.

19. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the slow wave conductor is formed as a helix surrounding the channel.

20. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the source and channel are in an atmosphere of a low pressure inert gas.

21. The energy converter of claim 20 wherein the source is an electrode wetted by a conductive substance.

22. The energy converter of claim 21 wherein the electrode has a sharp point in proximity to the channel.

23. The energy converter of claim 22 wherein the electrode of the source is at a voltage lower than the counter electrode.

24. The energy converter of claim 1 wherein the source is an electrode wetted by a conductive substance.

25. The energy converter of claim 24 wherein the electrode has a sharp point in proximity to the channel.

26. The energy converter of claim 25 wherein the electrode of the source is at a voltage lower than the counter electrode.

27. An energy converter comprising a source of discrete contained electrons in a bundle, a slow wave electrical conductor, means positioned to be responsive to the electron bundle for guiding the electron bundle relative to the slow wave conductor so energy is transferred from the electron bundle to the slow wave structure, the electron bundle interacting with the means for guiding so that plural discrete pulses of optical energy are derived along the means for guiding in response to a single pulse of electrical energy being applied to the sources, each of the optical energy pulses being associated with an electron bundle, the slow wave structure coupling energy transferred to it from the electron bundle to a load.

28. The energy converter of claim 27 wherein the source and guiding means are in a vacuum.

29. The energy converter of claim 28 wherein the source comprises a field emission source.

30. The energy converter of claim 27 further including N of the sources, N of the means for guiding, and N of the slow wave conductors, where N is an integer greater than one; each of the sources, means for guiding and slow wave conductors being respectively associated with each other on a one-on-one basis and arranged so that the bundles propagating in guiding means k cause a transfer of energy to slow wave conductor k, where k is selectively every integer from 1 to N, and means for combining the energy in the N slow wave conductors.

31. The energy converter of claim 30 wherein the combining means combines residual energy, not transferred to the slow wave conductors, in the N guiding means.

32. The energy converter of claim 30 wherein the combining means combines the energy in the N slow wave conductors with residual energy, not transferred to the slow wave conductors, in the N guiding means.

33. The energy converter of claim 27 further including means for coupling energy derived from the slow wave conductor back to the guiding means to provide a field for controlling the derivation of a bundle of discrete self-contained electrons from the source.

34. An energy converter method comprising launching a bundle of discrete contained electrons, guiding the bundle along a predetermined path, transferring energy from the bundle while it is guided along the path to a slow wave electrical conductor, and coupling energy transferred to the slow wave conductor from the bundle to a load.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising coupling residual energy in the bundle, not transferred to the slow wave electrical conductor, to the load.

36. The method of claim 33 further including controlling the flow of the bundles into the path prior to the bundles being guided to the slow wave conductor in response to energy transferred to the slow wave conductor from the bundles in the path.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the bundle flow is controlled by applying a field to a source of the bundles, the applied field causing a bundle to be launched from the source along the path.

38. An energy converter comprising a source of charged particles in plural discrete contained bundles; a solid dielectric body having a channel positioned to be responsive to the charged particle bundles; means for accelerating the charged particle bundles in the channel; a slow wave electrical conductor capacitively coupled to the channel and the charged particle bundles; a counter-electrode capacitively coupled to the slow wave electrical conductor, the channel and the bundles; means for biasing the slow wave conductor and counter-electrode so that the charged particle bundles propagate along and are guided by the channel and coupled to (a) the solid dielectric body, (b) the slow wave electrical conductor and (c) the counter electrode so the charged particle bundles charge the dielectric and cause a transfer of energy via the dielectric to the slow wave structure; the bundles interacting with the means for guiding so that plural discrete pulses of optical energy are derived along the channel in response to a single pulse of electrical energy being applied to the sources, each of the optical energy pulses being associated with an electron bundle; the slow wave structure coupling energy transferred to it via the dielectric to a load.

39. An energy converter comprising a source of charged particles in a discrete contained bundle; a solid dielectric body having a channel positioned to be responsive to the charged particles; means for accelerating the charged particles in the channel; a slow wave electrical conductor capacitively coupled to the channel and the charged particles; a counter-electrode capacitively coupled to the slow wave electrical conductor, the channel and the electron bundle; means for biasing the slow wave conductor and counter-electrode so that the charged particles propagate along and are guided by the channel and coupled to (a) the solid dielectric body, (b) the slow wave electrical conductor and (c) the counter electrode so the charged particles charge the dielectric and cause a transfer of energy via the dielectric to the slow wave structure; the slow wave structure coupling energy transferred to it via the dielectric to a load.

40. The energy converter of claim 39 wherein the charged particle source includes an electron source.

41. The energy converter of claim 39 wherein the charged particle source is a source of predominantly electrons.

42. An energy converter comprising a source of charged particles including electrons in plural discrete contained bundles; a solid dielectric body having a channel positioned to be responsive to the charged particle bundles; means for accelerating the charged particle bundles in the channel; a slow wave electrical conductor capacitively coupled to the channel and the charged particle bundles; a counter-electrode capacitively coupled to the slow wave electrical conductor, the channel and the bundles; means for biasing the slow wave conductor and counter-electrode so that and the charged particles bundles propagate along and are guided by the channel and coupled to (a) the solid dielectric body, (b) the slow wave electrical conductor and (c) the counter electrode so the charged particle bundles charge the dielectric and cause a transfer of energy via the dielectric to the slow wave structure; the bundles interacting with the means for guiding so that plural discrete pulses of optical energy are derived along the channel in response to a single pulse of electrical energy being applied to the sources, each of the optical energy pulses being associated with an electron bundle; the slow wave structure coupling energy transferred to it via the dielectric to a load.