Of possible use as a neutron source, but nothing else, so far.
Farnsworth's other patented inventions include the first "cold" cathode ray tube, an air traffic control system, a baby incubator, the gastroscope, and the first (albeit primitive) electronic microscope. From the 1950s until his death, his major interest was nuclear fusion. In fact, he patented an array of tubes, called "fusors," that produced a 30-second fusion reaction (1965).
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/farnsworth.htmlBased on research at the University of Illinois, a commercial neutron source has been developed by Daimler Chrysler Aerospace using a small grided-type Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) plasma device (Miley and Sved, 1997) This device employs a unique "Star-Mode" deuterium plasma discharge to create ion-beam driven fusion reactions in a plasma target (Miley et al., 1997a, 1997b, 1997c; Miley, 1999). As such, it represents the first commercial application of a confined fusing plasma. The Star-Mode discharge is an essential feature of this device since it minimizes ion-grid collisions and also allows tight beam focussing.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11003520
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