electro-, electr-, electri-

(Greek > Latin: electric, electricity; from amber, resembling amber, generated from amber which when rubbed vigorously [as by friction], produced the effect of static electricity)

Electronics in our lives consists of numerous tools

Equipment which we use everyday relies on electronics to function including calculators, car controls, cameras, washing machines, medical scanners, mobile telephones, radar systems, computers; as well as many other applications or devices which are listed in this unit.

electron-beam fusion, electron beam fusion
1. A process in which strong electron beams implode tiny pellets of deuterium and tritium, causing them to attain the temperature and density needed to initiate a fusion reaction.
2. The use of intense beams of electrons to implode small pellets of deuterium and tritium so that they reach the temperature and density required for initiating a fusion reaction.
electron-beam gun
A device generally used in a cathode-ray or camera tube to emit a stream of electrons moving at uniform velocity in a straight line.

It consists of an emitting cathode and an anode, with an aperture for passage of some of the electrons.

electron-beam instrument, cathode-ray instrument
A tool in which a beam of electrons is deflected by an electric or magnetic field (or both).

Usually the beam is made to strike a fluorescent screen so the deflection can be observed.

electron-beam ion source, electron beam ion source, EBIS
1. A source of multiple charged heavy ions used by a highly energized electron beam to ionize injected gas.
2. A source of multiple charged heavy ions which uses an intense electron beam with energies of five to ten kiloelectronvolts to successively ionize injected gas.
electron-beam laser, electron beam laser
A semiconductor laser in which the electron beam that provides pumping action in a thin plate of cadmium sulfide or other material is swept electrically in two dimensions by a deflection yoke, much as in a cathode-ray tube.

The resulting laser output beam moves correspondingly, to provide high-speed scanning for data retrieval and imaging applications.

The beam can be electronically blanked, unblanked, or modulated with analog video signals for the projection of picture or other graphic data.

electron-beam lithography, electron beam lithography, e-beam lithography
1. Lithography in which radiation-sensitive film is exposed to an electron beam.
2. The practice of scanning a beam of electrons in a patterned fashion across a surface covered with a film called the resist, exposing the resist, and of selectively removing either exposed or non-exposed regions of the resist called, "developing".
3. Lithography in which the radiation-sensitive film or resist is placed in the vacuum chamber of a scanning-beam electron microscope and exposed by an electron beam under digital computer control.

After exposure, the film is removed from the vacuum chamber for conventional development and other production processes.

electron-beam machining
1. A process in which controlled electron beams are used to weld or to shape a piece of material.
2. A machining process which takes place in a vacuum.

Heat is produced by a focused and controlled electron beam at a sufficiently high temperature to volatilize and so to remove metal in a specified manner.

Drilling and cutting are examples of specific applications.

electron-beam magnetometer, electron beam magnetometer
1. An instrument that measures the magnetic intensity of a magnetic field according to the movement and intensity of an electron beam, which passes through the field.
2. An instrument which measures the intensity and direction of magnetic forces by the immersion of an electron beam into the magnetic field.
electron-beam melting
A melting process which takes place in a vacuum, the heat being produced by a focused electron beam.

It's used principally for refining metals to a higher degree of purity than is possible with conventional vacuum-melting techniques.

Its chief advantage is the ability to control the temperature of the molten material and the time it remains melted because both affect the degree of volatilization of impurities.

Volatilization is the conversion of a chemical substance from a liquid or solid state to a gaseous or vapor state by the application of heat, by reducing pressure, or by a combination of these processes. It is also known as vaporization.

electron-beam mode discharge
A form of discharge produce by a perforated-wall hollow cathode operating under conditions of pressure, voltage, and geometry which is usually associated with the abnormal glow discharge.
electron-beam parametric amplifier, electron beam parametric amplifier (s) (noun); electron-beam parametric amplifiers, electron beam parametric amplifiers (pl)
1. A device that boosts a signal by varying the energy pumped from an electrostatic field into an electron beam traveling down the length of a tube, and then manipulating the beam at either end of the tube.
2. A parametric amplifier in which energy is pumped from an electrostatic field into a beam of electrons traveling down the length of the tube, and electron couplers impress the input signal at one end of the tube and translate spiraling electron motion into electric output at the other end.
electron-beam pumping, electron beam pumping
1. A process in which an electron beam provides the energy necessary to move the majority of electrons in a semiconductor out of a ground condition.
2. The use of an electron beam to produce excitation for population inversion and lasing action in a semiconductor laser.
electron-beam recorder, electron beam recorder
1. An instrument in which an electron beam places signals or data on film in a vacuum chamber.
2. A recorder in which a moving electron beam is used to record signals or data on to photographic or thermoplastic film in a vacuum chamber.
3. A device that transfers computer data onto microfilm using an electron beam.
electron-beam recording
The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials.
electron-beam tube, electron beam tube
1. An instrument; such as, a klystron (type of vacuum tube used as an amplifier), oscilloscope tube, or television picture tube, which functions through the generation of one or more electron beams.
2. An electron tube whose performance depends on the formation and control of one or more electron beams.

The references or sources of information for compiling the words and definitions in this unit are listed at this Electronic Bibliography page or specific sources are indicated when they are appropriate.


A cross reference of word units that are related, directly and/or indirectly, with "electricity": galvano-; hodo-; ion-; piezo-; -tron; volt; biomechatronics, info; mechatronics, info.