102 



National Resources Planning Board 



physical and chciniral factors involved in emission of 

 electrons from heated surfaces. The broad objective 

 has been to improve the uniformitj', efficiency, and life 

 expectancy of vacuum tubes. At the time these studies 

 were initiated, Wehnelt or oxide coated cathodes, were 

 known but their behavior was erratic and their prepara- 

 tion difficult. As a result of extended researches, the 

 principles involved in electron emission have been 

 greatly clarified. The role of metallic barium in oxide 

 coated cathodes is now understood from these studies, 

 and this knowledge has facilitated the development of 

 manufacturing processes for the production of more 

 uniform and efficient tubes of longer life. Both the 

 efficiency and life of vacuum tubes have been increased 

 many fold as a result of these studies." 



Corning Glass Works 



Shrunk glass.- — "The development of 'slirunk' glass 

 might be taken as an instance of a commercial result of 

 fundamental research in an industrial laboratory. 



"It had been observed that prolonged heat treatment 

 in the annealing region seriously affected the resistance 

 of certain glasses to attack by water and chemical re- 

 agents. With no immediate practical application in 

 view a study of the phenomenon was undertaken. 

 After work extending over a period of years it was found 

 that certain chemical compositions were particularly 

 susceptible to heat treatment, the result of which 



appeared to be the separation of the glass into two 

 phases, one consisting almost entirely of silica and the 

 other of boric oxide, alkali, and other constituents. 

 Extraction with acid then gave an article of the original 

 size, microscopically porous and consisting of some 

 96 percent silica, which on firing contracted in volume 

 about 35 percent and yet retained with remarkable 

 fidelity its original shape. 



"It has thus become possible to produce from a glass 

 melted and worked by conventional methods ware 

 which in its properties approaches fused quartz. The 

 expansion-coefficient of the 'shrunk' glass, for instance, 

 is 0.0000008 where that of fused quartz is 0.0000006. 

 Electrical properties and resistance to chemical attack 

 are also close to fused quartz. 



"The glass is now on the market in the form of labo- 

 ratory ware and in other special applications." 



Eastman Kodak Company 



Distillation in high vacua. — "A very typical example 

 of the application of fundamental research is Dr. Hick- 

 man's process of distillation in high vacua, which resulted 

 from a study of the design of vacuum gauges and pumps. 

 This was undertaken originally as a purely fundamental 

 research, without any particidar application in view and 

 has enabled us to design and build molecular stills and 

 to carry on the commercial distillation of vitamins from 

 fish oils in a subsidiary company formed for the purpose. 



Figure 19. — Pure Research Division, Stamford Research Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company, Stamford, Connecticut 



