Mechanical Tracer for Electron Trajectories

Abstract

THE paths of electrons in vacuum devices have been in recent years objects of intensive study. The problem involves in general the solution of a partial differential equation for the field, and if the field is known, the solution of an ordinary differential equation for the motion of the electron. The first problem is usually solved experimentally, by constructing a large-scale model of the device, which is immersed in an electrolyte, and exploring the field with a probe. The second step is either to construct the electron paths by some graphical method in a map of the potential lines, or to introduce the data derived from probe measurements into certain approximative differential equations, as developed by H. Busch, W. Glaser, O. Scherzer et al.