Vacuum Tube

Inelectronics,vacuum tube,electron tube(in North America),tube, orvalve(in British English) is a device that controlselectric currentthrough avacuum
in a sealed container. Vacuum tubes mostly rely onthermionic emissionof electrons from a hotfilamentor acathodeheated by the filament. This type is
called athermionic tubeorthermionic valve. Aphototube, however, achieves electron emission through thephotoelectric effect. Not all electron tubes
contain vacuum:gas-filled tubesare devices that rely on the properties of a discharge through an ionized gas.
The simplest vacuum tube, thediode, contains only an electron emitting cathode and an electron collecting plate. Current can only flow in one direction
through the device between the two electrodes, as electrons emitted by the hot cathode travel through the tube and are collected by the anode. Adding
control gridswithin the tube allows control of the current between the two electrodes. [1]Tubes with grids can be used as electronicamplifiers,rectifiers,
electronically controlledswitches,oscillators, and for other purposes.
Invented in about 1910, vacuum tubes were a basic component for electronics throughout the first half of the century, which saw the diffusion of radio,
television, radar,sound reinforcement,sound recording and reproduction, largetelephonenetworks, analog and digitalcomputers, and industrial
process control. Although some applications had counterparts using earlier technologies such as thespark gap transmitterormechanical computers, it was the
invention of the vacuum tubes that made these technologies widespread and practical. In the forties the invention ofsemiconductordevices made it possible
to producesolid-statedevices, which are smaller, more efficient, more reliable, more durable, and cheaper than tubes. Hence, in the '50s and '60s, solid-state
devices such astransistorsgradually replaced tubes. Thecathode-ray tube(CRT) remained the basis for televisions and video monitors until superseded in the
21st century. However there are still a few applications for which tubes are preferred to semiconductors; for example, themagnetronused in microwave ovens,
and certain high frequency amplifiers.