Electromagnetic radiation transducer
First Claim
1. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface enclosing a progressively smaller area along said axis from said mouth to said base, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a conduction electron density N1, said interior surface including a strip having opposite edges each defining a potential barrier, said strip having a conduction electron density N2, said strip extending from said mouth to said base and being in contact with said interior surface along said edges of said strip, each said strip of each cavity being connected adjacent to each said mouth to a conductor having a conduction electron density N3, each said interior surface being connected to a conductor having a conduction electron density N4, where:
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space="preserve" listing-type="equation">N.sub.4 <
N.sub.1 <
N.sub.2 <
N.sub.3.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Electromagnetic radiation is converted to usable power in the form of electrical current by means of a plurality of transducing cavities having a wall structure that is inclined inwardly to receive impinging radiation and includes potential barrier strips each having different conduction electron densities which are also different from the conduction electron density of the material constituting the wall structure of each cavity; each potential barrier strip extends from the mouth of the cavity to the base thereof and, at the mouth, is connected to a conductor having a preselected conduction electron density whereby radiation impinging on a cavity will induce current flow which will be rectified across the potential barriers; the cavities are connected in parallel so that current can be delivered to a load connected across the conductors.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface enclosing a progressively smaller area along said axis from said mouth to said base, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a conduction electron density N1, said interior surface including a strip having opposite edges each defining a potential barrier, said strip having a conduction electron density N2, said strip extending from said mouth to said base and being in contact with said interior surface along said edges of said strip, each said strip of each cavity being connected adjacent to each said mouth to a conductor having a conduction electron density N3, each said interior surface being connected to a conductor having a conduction electron density N4, where:
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">N.sub.4 <
N.sub.1 <
N.sub.2 <
N.sub.3.- View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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2. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface enclosing a progressively smaller area along said axis from said mouth to said base, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a conduction electron density N1, said interior surface including a first strip having opposite edges each defining a potential barrier, said first strip havng a conduction electron density N2 and a second strip having opposite edges each defining a potential barrier, said second strip having a conduction electron density N3, said strips extending from said mouth to said base and being spaced from one another, said first strip being connected adjacent said mouth to a conductor having a conduction electron density N4 and said second strip being connected adjacent said mouth to a conductor having a conduction electron density N5, where:
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">N.sub.4 <
N.sub.2 <
N.sub.1 <
N.sub.3 <
N.sub.5.- View Dependent Claims (3, 8, 9)
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18. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface enclosing a progressively smaller area along said axis from said mouth to said base, said interior surface including a first and a second potential barrier strip with said strips extending from said mouth to said base and being in contact with said interior surface along the edges of each said strip, said strips each being made from materials with different work functions φ
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2 and φ
3, respectively, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a work function φ
1, said first and second potential barrier strips being spaced from one another, said first strip being connected adjacent said mouth to a first conductor, said second strip being connected adjacent said mouth to a second conductor and with said conductors being electrically insulated from each other and where;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">φ
.sub.3 <
φ
.sub.1 <
φ
.sub.2. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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2 and φ
- 22. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface enclosing a progressively smaller area along said axis from said mouth to said base, said interior surface including a barrier strip having opposite edges, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a given work function while said barrier strip is made from a material having a different work function, said strip extending from said mouth to said base and being in contact with said interior surface along said edges of said strip, said strip of each cavity being connected adjacent to each said mouth to a first conductor, each said interior surface being connected to a second conductor where insulation means are provided to electrically insulate said conductors from each other.
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27. A radiation transducer module comprising a body having a plurality of cavities, each cavity having a mouth and a base, an interior surface extending from said mouth to said base and surrounding a central axis, said interior surface including a barrier strip having opposite edges, said interior surface being made over a major portion of its area from a material having a given work function while said barrier strip is made from a material having a different work function, said strip extending from said mouth to said base and being in contact with said interior surface along said edges of said strip, said strip of each cavity being connected adjacent to each said mouth to a first conductor, each said interior surface being connected to a second conductor where insulation means are provided to electrically insulate said conductors from each other.
Specification