<title>Testing an electron beam deflection innovation</title>

Abstract

While not obvious, deflection aberration is a key aberration in Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) design. A new concept in electron beam deflection with electric fields, originally proposed in 1997, is now being tested in the laboratory. Using a beam injected off the axis of symmetry, deflection aberrations are predicted to be 10 fold reduced compared to symmetrical injection. This would be less than magnetic deflection aberrations. If the invention proves to be valid, important improvements are possible in CRT brightness, resolution, energy consumption, and footprint reduction. As one example, reducing deflection aberrations allows larger beam diameters in the deflection plane as well as large deflection angles. This will reduce space charge spread, allowing larger beam currents and/or smaller focused spot size. Improved medical imaging displays could be built. For another example, much of the energy consumed in a magnetically deflected CRT display is associated with deflection. Electric deflection has a significant advantage in energy consumed compared to magnetic deflection. With 400 million CRTs in daily use in the US consuming 0.54 quads, there is a large incentive to reduce power consumption in CRTs particularly so since excess heat produced adds to office air conditioning loads.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.