Abstract:
The surface energy of a liquid phase of thorium compounds or alloys is used in fabricating cathodes by immersing the lower end of an inclined refractory metal tube into a powder mixture of elemental thorium and tungsten carbide, heating to a temperature above the melting point of the mixture so that the liquid mixture flows up the inside of the tube by capillary attraction, cooling and cutting the tube into sections of length for cathode bodies. A convex hemispherical emissive surface for the thermionic cathode is formed by electron beam melting the end of the thin rod of a thorium compound or alloy.