Television Pickup Tubes with Cathode-Ray Beam Scanning

Abstract

Television pickup tubes which use cathode-ray beam scanning, although only one class of television pickup devices, may be made in a variety of ways, a number of which are described in this paper. In these tubes, the function of the electron beam is to release secondary electrons from the target, the number escaping being modulated by electrostatic fields, magnetic fields, orientation of electrodes or changes in the secondary emission ratio of the target. The Iconoscope is a well-known example of modulation by electrostatic fields produced by photoemission from the target. A conducting photocathode when used as a target, however, acted as if its secondary emission ratio were decreased by light. A copper plate oxidized and treated with caesium transmitted a picture with some time lag. Photoconductive materials exposed to light and scanned by an electron beam were made to develop potential variations over their surface and thereby transmit a television picture. Aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide, treated with caesium, were used in this manner. Selenium, used as a photoconductive material, also transmitted a picture. Germanium used as a target sensitive to heat radiation was able to transmit a picture, probably as a result of some thermoelectric effect. The most sensitive tubes tested were those in which an electron picture was focused upon a scanned, secondary electron emissive target. The scanning and picture projection operations may be separated by using a two-sided target. Coupling between the two sides was obtained by conducting plugs through the target.