Gas filled tubes are arrangements of electrodes in a gas within an insulating, temperature-resistant envelope. Although the envelope was classically glass, power tubes often use ceramics, and military tubes often use glass-lined metal.
Gas filled tubes operate by ionizing the gas to get conduction. Both hot and cold cathode type devices are encountered. Depending on application, either glow discharge or arc discharge may be emphasised.
Switching gas filled tubes
Some important examples include the thyratron, krytron, and ignitron tubes.
Lighting and display gas filled tubes
Specialized low-pressure gas filled tube devices include the Nixie tube (used to display numerals) and the Dekatron (used to count or divide pulses, with display as a secondary function).
Neon signage and Neon lamps are other types of low-pressure gas filled tubes.
Xenon flash lamps are gas filled tubes used in cameras and strobe lights to produce bright flashes of light.
Other types of gas filled tubes
A type of gas filled tube called the Geiger-Müller tube is used to detect and measure ionizing radiation.
One of the proposed designs for a fusion reactor is basically a gas filled tube, the Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor.
A tube in which electrons move through a vacuum (or gaseous medium) within a gas-tight envelope is called an electron tube.
See also: Vacuum tube
External links