Understanding Current Electricity & Inducing a Current

[Unleaded]

I'm trying to figure out what exactly current electricity is, and how you can induce a current.

According to some of the other threads I've read, infrared waves are released as a form of heat energy. So I am wondering two things:

1) Is it possible to isolate a stream of electrons (eg. Have a stable cloud of electrons, controlled by say electromagnetic fields or watever, in a vacuum) to study electricity/electron properties in a very direct way?

2) What happens when you bombard a stream of electrons(or the above mentioned 'cloud') with infrared light (is that even possible?) ie. The reverse of what happens when current electricity heats up a resistor (eg light bulb)?

Hope these questions aren't too messed up :)

-Unleaded

 

[Valerie Park]

1) Isolating a stream of electrons is possible and is called electron beam technology. It is used in many research applications, such as scanning electron microscopes (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), and particle accelerators. Electron beams can also be used for ion implantation and electron-beam lithography. 2) Infrared light can be used to create current electricity by bombarding electrons with infrared radiation. This process is known as thermionic emission. In thermionic emission, electrons in the surface of a heated material gain enough energy from the infrared radiation to escape into the vacuum. These electrons can then be collected and used as an electrical current.