MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY RADIATION LABORATORY SERIES T,OUISN. RIDENOUR,Editor-in-Chief —— CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAYS -) +. (- MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY RADIATION LABORATORY SERIES BoardofEditocs LouIsN.RIDENOURE,ditor-in-Chief GEIORQEBY.COLLINSD,eputy Editor-in-Chief BRITYONCEANCES,.A.GOUDSMIRT.,G.HERR,HUREIITM.JAMESJ,ULIANK.KNIPP, JAMESL. LAWSON, LEON B. LINFORD, CAROL G. MONTGOMERY, C. NEWTON, ALRERT M. STONE, LouIs A. TURNER, GEORGE E. VALLEY, JR., HERSERT H. WIIEATON 1. RADAR SYSTEMENGINEERING—Ridenour 2. RADAR AIDS TONAVIGATION—HO1l 3. RADAR BsiAcoNs-Roberta 4. LORAN—P&WIX, McKenzie, and Woodward 5. PULSEGENEFcATOW.--(hsoaendLebacqz 6. MICROWAVE MAGNETRONS—cOllinS 7. KLYSTRONS ANDMICROWAVE TRIoDEs—Hamikwt, Knipp, andKuper 8. PRINCIPLES OFMICROWAVE Cmcurrs-Montgomery, Dick., and Purcell 9. MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION CIRcul’rs-Ragan 10.WAVEGUIDE HANDEOOK—Ma~CUV& 11.TECHNIQUE OFMICROWAVE Measurements—Montgomery 12. MICROWAVE ANTENNA THEORY ANDDESIGN—Sikk3?’ 13. PROPAGATION OFSHORTRADIO WAvEs—KerT 14. MICROWAVE DUPLExERs-Smulkn and Montgomery 15.CRYSTAL Rectifiers—Torrey and Whitmcr 16. MICROWAVE MrxERs-pound 17. COMPONENTSHANDEooK—Bkwkbu,n 18.VACUUM TUSE Amplifiers—Valleg and Wallman 19. WAvEFoR&m—6%ance, Hughes, MacNichal, Sayre, and Williams 20. ELECTRONIC TIME MEASUREIi4ENTS-chanCe, Hulsizer, MacNichol, and William-s 21. ELECTRONIC lNwrRu?dENm.-(%eenwood, Holdam, andMacRae 22. CATHODERAYTUEE DIsPLAYs—So~~er, Starr, and Valley 23. MICROWAVE REcEIVEIIs-Van Voorhis 24. THRESHOW &GNALs-Lawson and Uhlenbeck 25. THEORY OFServomechanisms—Janws, Nickels, and Phillips 26. RADAR SCANNERSANDRADOMES—COdY, Karelitz, and TurneT 27. COMPUTING MECHANISMS ANDLltiKAGm—Svoboda 28. INDEX-HCWWXI :ATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAYS Edited by THEODORE SOLLER PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AMHEIIST COLLE(;E MERLE A. STARR ASSISTANT PHOFESSOR OF PHYSICS UNIWZRSITY OF PORTLAND GEORGEE. VALLEY, JR. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS M.4SSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TCCHNOLO(;Y OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPIIENT NATION.4L DEFENSE RESEARCH COMMITTEE FIRST 13DITION NE W YORK TO RON TO- LO NI)ON _lfGGRAW’-HILL BOOK CO]\[PAN1’, INC. 1948 77< ‘b 57.5 ,1’”’lw w, Lz C,3 CATHODE RAY TIJBE T)ISPT,AYS COPYRIGHT, 1948, BY THE Mc~R:lw-HILL BOOK COMPANY, lNc. PRINTED IN THE b“h-lTEDST.4TES OF Abll<R1(..l All rights reserued. This book, o~ parts thereof, may notbereproduced in an~ form mitholll permission oj the p!(blishers. THE MAPLE PRESS COMPANY, YORK, PA., CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAYS EDITORIAL STAFF GEORGEE. VALLEY, JR. THEODORESOLLER MERLE & STARR HELEN WENETSKY CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS R. P. &3BENHOUSE L. J. HAWORTH P. AXEL R. W. LEE A. Y. BENTLEY H. O. MARCY, III F. B. BERGER W. B. NOTITNGHM P. F. BROWN R. D. RAWCIJFFE R. DRESSEL c. w. SHERWIN L. D. ELLSWORTH T. SOLLER F. N. GILLETTE R. M. WALKER G. M. GLASFORD C. W. WASKMIRN W. F. GOODELL, JR. D. F. WINTER N. C. ZATSKY ‘1 Foreword THE tremendous research and development effort that went into the development of radar and related techniques during World War II resulted not only in hundreds of radar sets for military (and some for possible peacetime) use but also in a great body of information and new techniques in the electronics and high-frequency fields. Because this basic material may be of great value to science and engineering, it seemed most important to publish it as soon as security permitted. The Radiation Laboratory of MIT, which operated under the super- vision of the National Defense Research Committee, undertook the great task of preparing these volumes. The work described herein, however, is the collective result of work done at many laboratories, Army, Navy, university, and industrial, both in this country and in England, Canada, and other Dominions. The Radiation Laboratory, once its proposals were approved and finances provided by the Office of Scientific Research and Development, chose Louis N. Ridenour as Editor-in-Chief to lead and direct the entire project. An editorial staff was then selected of those best qualified for this type of task. Finally the authors for the various volumes or chapters or sections were chosen from among those experts who were intimately familiar with the various fields, and who were able and willing to write the summaries of them. This entire staff agreed to remain at work at MIT for six months or more after the work of the Radiation Laboratory was complete. These volumes stand as a monument to this group. These volumes serve as a memorial to the unnamed hundreds and thousands of other scientists, engineers, and others who actually carried on the research, development, and engineering work the results of which are herein described. There were so many involved in this work and they worked so closely together even though often in widely separated labora- tories that it isimpossible to name or even to know those who contributed to aparticular idea or development. Only certain ones who wrote reports or articles have even been mentioned. But to all those who contributed in any way to this great cooperative development enterprise, both in t}lis country and in England, these volumes are dedicated. ~. A. DUBRIDGE. vii i“ Preface THEuse of cathode-ray tubes as a means of displaying information in radar and other equipments demanded a huge expansion of produc- tion facilities during the war. In the 3+year period from January 1942, nearly 3 million of these tubes were manufactured. Although some of the production was in specialized types that are not likely to find popular usage, there are now available from surplus stocks and from present manufacture many cathode-ray tubes of various types. Along with development of thetubes and their screens, there has been a correspond- ing development of the art of beam deflection, reported here only in part, but in such detail as to suggest numerous variations. It is hoped that the application of these tubes to peacetime uses will be aided by the publication of this volume. Cathode Ray Tube Displays is one of seven related volumes of the P.adiation Laboratory Series that deal with lumped-parameter circuits. It describes solutions to problems involved in the application of cathode- ray tubes to radar displays and to test equipment. Although the design of the tubes themselves is not considered in any detail, operating char- acteristics of the tubes and of their auxiliary equipment and the character- istics and construction of their screens arediscussed indetail. A number of means of producing sweeps is given both for electrostatic- and mag- netic-deflection tubes. Great emphasis isplaced on sweeps that progress linearly with time. Because of the close relation between the function of a radar set and the design of its display system, it was particularly difficult to avoid frequent reference to specific radar applications of cathode-ray tubes. It isone of the purposes of the introductory chapter, therefore, to present ageneral description of the problems peculiar to radar sothat the motiva- tion of some of the circuit design can be understood. Several following chapters elaborate on the parts and functional circuits used in building up ~ display system. Later chapters show how these parts can be synthesized into complete systems. Nonstandard values of resistora indicated in some of the circuit drawings signify the use of standard RMA values in series or parallel to obtain the desired power rating. For example, a 6-watt resistor is ix x PREFACE actually made up of three 2-watt resistors of the appropriate resistance value. The connection of multiph+ernent vacuum tubes as triodes or diodes is shown in some cases. This pract;ce is usually employed to avoid the need of other types of tubes as spare parts in field equipment. Other types may function as well in the circuits. The editors wish to acknowledge the ever-helpful inspiration and guidance of the editor-in-chief, Louis N. Ridenour, and of his editorial board, The preparation of the art and manuscript of this book was greatly aided by the efforts of Charles Newton and his assistants, V. Josephson, M. Dolbeare, and M. Phillips. Whatever uniformity of style and format the book may possess is due to the Technical Coordination Group operating under the supervision of L. B. Linford and A. M. Stone. The editors extend to the authors their appreciation of an onerous task conscientiously performed, and their congratulations upon its completion. The assistance of W. O. Reed and W. E. Henry in furnish- ing important background material for several sections was important and necessary for the completion of these sections. The editorial staff wishes to thank Martha Murrell for so effectively and ably supervising the preparation of the illustrations. Much of the special typing was done by Doris Williams, to whom the editors aremuch indebted. THE EIMTORS, CAMSSIOGE, MASS., JutY, 1946.