Hi, the mercury adheres to cathode surface and because its molecule is heavy, it is less likely to be relieved from the cathode by electrons bombarding the cathode (compared to relatively light molecules of Fe, Ni, Cr - stainless steel).. The lifetime of mercury doped nixies is 200.000 hrs, tubes without mercury have 5.000 hrs (MTBF value from datasheets). This is a theory.. The lifetime otself depends on many other parametrs, eg. size of the hole in anode grid or shape of the ceramic insulators between numbers..
My experimental tube without mercury is at ~1500 hrs, no signs of metal deposit on glass, some deposit of shiny metal on ceramic insulators - the resistivity is not measurable yet (>300 Mohms). photo: http://tinyurl.com/n5o5bau Dalibor 2014-02-13 8:44 GMT+01:00 Kevin Keith <[email protected]>: > I've seen references and claims to this fact, but never an explanation of the > exact mechanism? So, with that said, how *does* mercury actually reduce > cathode poisoning/sputtering damage? Are there any potential alternatives? > Would something like gallium work? > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/61e65e8a-43ac-4cc4-824b-04c7f4039731%40googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- Dalibor Farny ---------------------------------------- phone: +420 724 321 571 http://www.daliborfarny.com blog: http://dalibor.farny.cz -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CA%2BnkT5p4hnGcuEwzBSxWozZqpNRuiqCUNoWyxEhL4xJP-07r0A%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
