I heard about the cold cathode tube technology from Jeff Fleeman @ American Electric Power. I've gotten pretty excited about it myself. I spoke to Curtis Birnbach (the inventor) the other day (he is also co-author with John Kappenman of the paper cited in this thread). Birnbach has 13 issued patents, and 11 pending patents:
PUB. APP. NO. Title
01 20100289577 Cascade Voltage Amplifier and Method of Activating Cascaded Electron Tubes
02 20100254154 Central laser source based passive countermeasure system
03 20100195256 Methods and Apparatus for Protecting Power Systems from Extraordinary Electromagnetic Pulses
04 20100104058 Systems for Enhancing Pre-ignition Conditions of Thermonuclear Fusion Reactions
05 20100097734 Method and Apparatus for Protecting Power Systems from Extraordinary Electromagnetic Pulses
06 20090285362 Flash X-Ray Irradiator
07 20090190383 High Voltage Inverter
08 20080063132 Method and System for Controlled Fusion Reactions
09 20060023993 Directional optical coupler
10 20050094915 Directional optical coupler
11 20030021540 Directional optical coupler
PUB. APP. NO. Title
01 20100289577 Cascade Voltage Amplifier and Method of Activating Cascaded Electron Tubes
02 20100254154 Central laser source based passive countermeasure system
03 20100195256 Methods and Apparatus for Protecting Power Systems from Extraordinary Electromagnetic Pulses
04 20100104058 Systems for Enhancing Pre-ignition Conditions of Thermonuclear Fusion Reactions
05 20100097734 Method and Apparatus for Protecting Power Systems from Extraordinary Electromagnetic Pulses
06 20090285362 Flash X-Ray Irradiator
07 20090190383 High Voltage Inverter
08 20080063132 Method and System for Controlled Fusion Reactions
09 20060023993 Directional optical coupler
10 20050094915 Directional optical coupler
11 20030021540 Directional optical coupler
