Abstract:
A cathode heater (10) includes a patterned heater conductor (14) embedded between a dielectric ceramic substrate (12) and a dielectric ceramic layer (16). The ceramic (12,16) has a pair of conductors (20,22) over the respective surfaces thereof to provide electrical contact for the heater. To assemble, the substrate (12) and the layer (16) having the conductors, the substrate (12), layer (16) and printed conductive patterns (20,14,22) are fired to provide a composite multi-layer ceramic heater which can be used to heat cathode electrodes in microwave tubes such as travelling wave tubes. Conductive material (24,26) in holes (12',16') in the substrate (12) and layer (16) provides electrical connection between the conductors (20,22) and the patterned heater conductor (14).