New Method of Thermal Energy—To Electrical Energy Conversion in Vacuum Devices with the Metal—Dielectric Nanofilm Electron Sources

摘要

New method of thermal energy—to electrical energy conversion in vacuum devices with the metal (W)—dielectric nanofilm (ZrO2) electron source is offered and studied. According to estimates and results of modeling, the energy effectiveness (χ) of the proposed method may exceed χ for the known thermionic energy conversion method to 2 - 3 orders of magnitude.