A NEW METHOD FOR RECORDING ELECTRONS

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Abstract
A brief review is given of the use of photographic plates for the recording of electrons. Photographic plates are rendered more sensitive to the action of electrons by the application of a small amount of certain oils; but whether oiled or not, photographic plates are insensitive to the action of electrons when they strike the plate with a speed of less than 25 equivalent volts. This work indicates that the sensitizing action of oil is largely due to cathodo‐luminescence of the oil, and that the failure of the photographic plate to record low speed electrons is due to the high electrical resistance of the photographic emulsion. Announcement is made of the discovery of the fact that metal surfaces are affected by electron bombardment in such a way that the bombarded regions react differently toward certain vapors than do the unbombarded regions. This effect has been observed even when the speed of the impinging electrons was only 12 equivalent volts. Experiments on silver and gold are presented in detail, and the practical use of the effect for electron recording demonstrated. Possible causes of the effect are also discussed. When the two methods for recording electrons are compared, it is found that the photographic method has the advantage of speed and ease of reproduction; while the metal method has the advantage of reliability, freedom from charging up, and insensitivity to light. Moreover, the metal method can be used for lower speed electrons than can the photographic method.

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