VACUUM TUBES

Charles G. Juarizo, PECE

What is a Vacuum
TUbe
A vacuum tube (or also known as electron
tube ) is an electronic device which consists of
an electrode structure enclosed in a glass or
metal container that is evacuated
The vacuum tube operates on the following
principles:
• emission of electrons by a metal electrode,
called the cathode ;
• control of free electrons flowing inside the
evacuated tube.
Types of Electron
Emission
. Current can only exist with the
presence of current carriers. This
state can only be achieved when
valence electrons have sufficiently
gained energy to break away from the
influence of their respective parent
atoms, this process is also known as
electron emission. Listed below are four
methods of obtaining electron emission
from the surface of a metal conductor.
Types of Electron
Emission
Electrons are
emitted from the
cathode by
applying heat or
thermal energy. In
1. Thermionic doing so,
Emission electrons gain
sufficient energy
to escape from the
metal electrode
and become free
electrons.
Types of Electron
Emission
The emission of
electrons is
dependent on the
2. intensity of light
Photoele striking the metal
surface. The light
ctric energy is absorbed
Emission by the electron,
which increases its
energy to leave the
surface.
Types of Electron Emission

3. FIELD A STRONG ELECTRIC

FIELD SET UP BY A
EMISSION HIGH POSITIVE
VOLTAGE PULLS THE
ELECTRONS OUT OF
THE CATHODE
SURFACE.
Types of Electron Emission
FREE ELECTRONS
ARE PRODUCED
FROM A METAL
SURFACE WHEN A
HIGH-SPEED
PRIMARY
ELECTRON
4. SUDDENLY STRIKES.
SECONDARY BOMBARDING
EMISSION ELECTRONS
COLLIDE WITH
THE ELECTRONS
IN THE METAL
CONSEQUENTLY
EJECTING THEM
OUT FROM THE
SURFACE
Two Ways of Applying
Heat
• direct heating – electric current
is applied to a filament wire, which
also serves as the cathode. The
emitter is usually made of either
tungsten or oxide -coated material
• indirect heating – the cathode
is electrically heated by a
separate heater element located
inside it. The emitter is oxide –
coated
 VACUUM TUBE DIODE

• It is the simplest type of vacuum tube

diode that consists of two metal electrodes:
the plate, P (or sometimes called anode) and
the cathode, K .
Operation:
• Electrons are emitted from the cathode by
supplying heat either directly or indirectly.
During the heating process, a cloud of free
electrons called space charge is formed
between the cathode and the plate.
 VACUUM TUBE DIODE

• By applying a positive voltage to

the plate with respect to the
cathode, the free electrons repelled
by the cathode are attracted towards
the plate. In this state, the vacuum
tube diode acts like a closed switch or a
short circuit.
 VACUUM TUBE DIODE

• However, if the voltage at the plate

is made negative with respect to the
cathode, free electrons are pushed
back to the cathode and no current
flows, like an open-circuit.
 VACUUM
TUBE DIODE

• Due to the nature of the vacuum tube diode to conduct current in a particular
direction and act as an open circuit when impressed with a voltage of the other
direction, it is used as a rectifier. When it is used as such, say an alternating
current is used as an input, for the part of the cycle that the anode is positive,
current flows, and for the other half, no current flows.
Characteristic Curve for an electron/vacuum
tube
For the characteristic curve of a
vacuum tube diode, there are two
important parameters to be worth
noting:

• cutoff point – it is the minimum

point at which the tube no longer
operates. Below, this value, no plate
current flows.

• saturation point – it is the

maximum point wherein raising the
plate voltage no longer increases
the plate current. In other words,
additional plate voltage has very
little or no effect at all in increasing
the plate current.
 • A vacuum tube triode consists of
three electrodes: plate, cathode and
control grid. The function of the
plate and cathode in a triode is
VACUUM TUBE similar to that in a vacuum tube
diode. The control grid is a spiral,
TRIODE fine metal wire made of nickel or
iron, inserted between the plate and
cathode, is used to control the flow of
current in the tube
VACUUM TUBE TRIODE
 VACUUM
TUBE
TRIODE
OPERATION

• A high, positive voltage, set-up by VPP, is applied to the plate to

attract the electrons emitted by the cathode. • The control grid is
applied with a negative voltage that has two components: a DC
bias voltage (VGG) and a small AC signal. • The DC bias maintains the
grid to cathode voltage to be negative and it ensures the flow of
plate current with or without the AC signal. • The small AC signal varies
the rate of flow of plate current
 • For (a), making VGG a few volts negative with respect to the cathode
will repel back the free electrons to the cathode resulting in a
decrease of plate current. Only electrons with higher energy state are

VACUUM TUBE TRIODE allowed to pass through the control grid. • For (b), if VGG is set to a very
large negative voltage with respect to the cathode, which is equal to the
cut-off voltage, no free electrons are allowed to pass the control grid
since the field set-up by the negatively charged control grid repels them.
As a result, no plate current flows from plate to cathode.
VACUUM
TUBE
TRIODE

• For (c), if VGG is made to be positive with respect to the

cathode, a large number of free electrons flow toward the plate
since the grid aids the plate in attracting the electrons.
Consequently, the plate current increases.
• The ability of the control grid to vary the plate current makes the
triode amplify small AC signal
Characteristic
of Vacuum
Tube Triode
• The different curves
exhibit the behavior of
the same triode when
applied with different
values of control (grid)
voltages.
 1. Amplification Factor, μ
It is the ratio of the
Tube infinitesimal change in
plate voltage, Vp, to an
Parameters infinitesimal change in
control grid voltage, VGG,
under the condition that
the plate current, Ip, is
held constant.
 2. Plate Resistance, Rp

Tube It is the ratio of the

change in the plate voltage
Parameters to the change in plate
current when the control
grid voltage is held constant.
.
 3. Transconductance, Gm
It is the ratio of the
change in the plate
Tube current to the change in
Parameters plate voltage when the
control grid voltage is held
constant. It is basically the
reciprocal of the plate
resistance, Rp.
Example:
• For the following data:

Vp (Volts) VGG (volts) Ip (mA)

250 -8 8
215 -7 8
250 -7 10

Find the following:

a. Amplification factor
b. Transcondcutance
c. Plate resistance
 VACUUM TUBE
TETRODE

• The vacuum tube tetrode is an

electron tube developed to
eliminate the undesirable effect
of the inter-electrode
capacitance existing in a
vacuum triode during high
frequency operation. These inter-
electrode capacitances cause
oscillation and instability in radio
frequency amplifiers since the
grid to plate capacitance, Cgp,
feeds back energy from the
plate (output) circuit to the grid
(input) circuit.
 VACUUM TUBE
TETRODE

• As a solution to this
feedback pr oblem, an
additional electrode, called
screen grid, is inserted
between the plate and the
control grid, thus, reducing
the value of Cgp.
 VACUUM
TUBE
TETRODE
OPERATION

• A high positive voltage is applied to the plate to attract the

electrons emitted by the cathode. A negative voltage applied to the
control grid with respect to the cathode to control the flow of
electrons from cathode to anode. A positive voltage, with a lower
value compared to the plate voltage, is applied to the screen grid
relative to the cathode to help accelerate the flow of electron from
cathode to plate.
 • When the high speed electrons
strike the metal plate, some of the
SECONDARY loosely attached electrons within the
plate are ejected out of the surface
EMISSION IN A towards the screen grid as secondary
electrons. These secondary electrons
TETRODE are collected by positive screen grid,
thus, increasing the screen grid current
 VACUUM TUBE
PENTODE

• It is simply a vacuum tube

tetrode with an additional
electrode called the suppressor
grid inserted between the screen
grid and the plate. Usually, the
suppressor grid is connected
internally to the cathode. The
purpose of this grid is to
suppress secondary emission
from the plate. Any secondary
electrons emitted by
bombardment of the plate are
repelled back, before they can be
attracted to the positive screen grid
Structure of a
Miniature
Tube
(Pentode)
 • Basically, the biasing is
very similar to that of the
tetrode. The suppressor
grid, which is highly
negative relative to the
plate, repels the secondary
electrons back to the
plate, thus, eliminating the
effects of secondary
emission

VACUUM TUBE PENTODE

OPERATION