Litton Corporation Glossary and Terms |
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Magnetron ? A type of electron tube used to generate power at microwave frequency. This was originally used in the development of radar systems. But an interesting side effect of the magnetron was that it cooked stuff. Enterprising scientists like Charles Litton used this effect to build the first microwave ovens in the 1940s. Magnetrons are surprisingly inexpensive to manufacture because they require only four parts: a cathode, an anode, a tank circuit, and a magnet. The magnet cycles and magnifies the power output of the circuit, providing the power for both radar and cooking. A magnetron generates extremely high frequencies (microwaves) and short bursts of very high power. Vacuum tubes ? a type of evacuated tube used primarily in radio communication and, later, in the earliest computers like Eniac. The vacuum tube (also called the thermionic valve outside North America) is a used to amplify or modify a signal using the movement of electrons in a vacuum. Today, the vacuum tube has been mostly replaced by the transistor or integrated circuit, but vacuum tubes are still used in certain types of audio systems, television sets, and high-power RF transmitters. Electron Tube ? another name for the vacuum tube. Silicon Valley ? Located in the northern part of Santa Clare Valley and the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California, Silicon Valley was named for the large number of silicon chip manufacturers and inventors in the area, but is now known as one of the most high-tech regions in the world. Silicon Valley began around innovations by Stanford University, which was setting itself up to be the West Coast rival to MIT and a center for technological development. This plan was initiated in the 1930s, and has been wildly successful. Mass production ? The production of end materials, generally machines, from large quantities of standardized parts; the best example of this is the auto assembly line. The most important modern development of the mass production line is vertical integration, in which the manufacturer owns not just its own factory but also the upstream and downstream parts and sales outlets for its products. The upstream parts can then be efficiently integrated into the mass production line, and tweaked simply by the manufacturer. Microwave ? A microwave is an electromagnetic wave that is shorter than most radio waves; this high-frequency wave is used extensively in technologies like radar. Because of its high power, it is effective in microwave ovens as well, but only in high numbers. Superabrasive ? Abrasives are used to smooth or machine other substances; superabrasives are especially good at smoothing, and are used in high-precision machine tooling. Most superabrasives are diamond-based or boron nitride based. Cubic boron nitride ? This remarkable substance is the fourth-hardest substance known, behind diamond, ultrahard fulleride, and aggregated diamond nanorods. It is commonly used to make machine tool bits because unlike diamond, it will not dissolve into iron, nickel, and other alloys at high temperatures. |
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