Cold columbium nitride acts as radio detector : (Chemical and Engineering News, Vol. 24, No. 24.)
✍ Scribed by R.H. Oppermann
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1947
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 66 KB
- Volume
- 244
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0016-0032
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✦ Synopsis
Cold Columbium Nitride Acts as Radio Detector. (Chemical and Engineering News, Vol. 24, No. 24.)--The discovery that superconducting columbium nitride, at -345 ° F., will serve as a detector for radio waves has been announced by Donald H. Andrews and Chester D. Clark, of the Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, who made the discovery accidentally while carrying on research on the infra-red ray bolometer.
At one point in the work when a battery was running low, Dr. Andrews turned off the heating coil that governs the very sensitive point at which columbium nitride strip in the bolometer is made sensitive to infra-red rays. When the temperature fell to -345 ° F. because of the liquid hydrogen encasing the bolometer, a loudspeaker that is used in the system to observe audible effects began to issue a local broadcast program.
Investigation showed that through the medium of superconductivity, columbium nitride was functioning as a radio detector. Its discovery was due to the fact that it was connected to a standard audiofrequency amplifier.
Depending on superconductivity, this is an entirely new principle of radio reception and is a fundamental dicovery of great potential significance. Dr. Andrews reports that it is too early to forsee what directions its applications will take, but it seems apparent that it may influence trans-ocean and other long distance radio communication.
R. H. OPPERMANN.