what was the vacuum diode used for
Use of Vacuum Tube Diodes Gradually p-n junction semiconductor has come in the market and vacuum tubes got replaced by them. The most basic structure of vacuum tube is vacuum diode. Still today somewhere vacuum tubes are being used widely. These fields for application of the vacuum tubes are in Atomic Clocks; Audio Systems; Car Dashboards
Electron (or Vacuum) Tubes. An electron tube (also known as a 'Vacuum tube', or a 'Valve' ) is a glass or metal enclosure in which electrons move through the vacuum or gas from one metal electrode to another. The vacuum tube is often used to amplify weak currents or act as a one-way valve (rectifier) for electric current. Before the 1947 invention of the transistor the electron tube was the basis of virtually all electronic devices. The simplest kind of electron tube is the diode, which was invented in 1904 by John A. Fleming.