For our 45th anniversary issue, we started a new tradition: Microwave Legends These "legends" comprise the people, places, or things that have had the most significant influence on the microwave industry. We started with 45 "Microwave Legends," which were nominated and voted upon by both the staff of Microwaves & RF and our readers. Through our research and discourses with our audience, however, we were reminded of the seemingly countless legends that have influenced and are currently impacting this industry. To provide a fuller picture of the microwave industry's movers and shakers, we made the Microwave Legends an annual tradition. Every August, we induct five new nominees into the "Microwave Legends." Check out our current line-up. If you think we omitted someone or something, please drop us a line. We'll be happy to consider your nominee for next year.

HARRY BOOT AND JOHN RANDALL – In 1921, A.W. Hull, who worked for the General Electric Co., published a paper on a discovery that he dubbed the Magnetron. Hull realized that it was possible to reduce an anode current at a certain magnetic-field strength by applying a magnetic field to a diode vacuum tube with cylindrical electronides. About 20 years later, Harry Boot and John Randall— two engineers at the University of Birmingham—decided to build a magnetron that could handle a large amount of power and generate microwave energy in a very efficient manner.

According to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (www.theiet.org), H.A.H. (“Harry”) Boot was born in 1917 in Birmingham. After being educated at King Edward’s School, he went to Birmingham University to study physics. Boot was awarded a BSc in 1938 and a PhD in 1941. After the outbreak of the war, Boot worked in the physics department under M.L.E. Oliphaunt on the development of centimetric radar. At that point, radar was based on long wavelengths and required very bulky equipment to generate and receive these relatively low-frequency signals. As a result, the search area had to be “flooded” to detect any moving objects. Boot and his colleague, J.A. Randall, were trying to produce wavelengths of 10 cm or less for use in a more focused radar “beam,” which would be more accurate.

The two researchers first tried using a klystron as the high-frequency energy source. But they were not able to produce sufficiently short waves. In 1940, they decided to try a magnetron tube. After only a few months, Boot and Randall were able to produce wavelengths of 9.8 cm. The first magnetron radar system was built at TRE Swanage in May of that year. That September, the Bomber Command used it to detect submarines. In the Battle of the Atlantic, centimetric radar enabled the allies to locate surfaced U-boats in any weather. The magnetron also was critical to the defeat of the German night bombers in 1943 to 1944 as well as in improved accuracy of the allies’ own night bombing.

In 1948, Boot was appointed Principal Scientific Officer (PSO) at Services Electronic Research Laboratories, Baldock. There, he undertook research on microwaves, magnetrons, plasma physics, and lasers. He retired in 1977 and died in February 1983.

The life of John Randall is not so widely reported. From Wikipedia, however, the following can be ascertained: Sir John Randall was born in March 1905 in Newton-le-Willows, St. Helens, Lancashire. He was educated at the University of Manchester, where he was awarded a first-class honors degree in physics and a graduate prize in 1925 as well as an MSc in 1926. From 1926 to 1937, Randall was employed on research by the General Electric Company at its Wembley laboratories, where he led the development of luminescent powders for use in discharge lamps. He was then awarded a Royal Society fellowship to the University of Birmingham, where he worked on the electron trap theory of phosphorescence. When the war began in 1939, he transferred to the group working on centimeter radar. His work with Boot then followed.

Later, Randall turned his attention to biophysics. In 1946, he became the Wheatstone Chair of Physics at King’s College London. There, he was Director of the Biophysics Research Unit. During his term as Director, experimental work leading to the discovery of the structure of DNA was made by Rosalind Franklin, Raymond Gosling, and Maurice Wilkins. His own work focused on the structure of collagen. In 1970, Randall retired to Edinburgh University, where he formed a group that applied a range of new biophysical methods to study various biological problems. He died in June 1984.

CYRIL HILSUM – Much of history is muddled with multiple claims to the same invention and misappropriated credit. In this vein, many feel that John B. Gunn should not be solely credited for discovering the transferred electron effect. Most of the legwork that made his “discovery” possible is widely credited to semiconductorauthority and Professor Cyril Hilsum. Born in 1925, Hilsum obtained a BSc and PhD in physics from University College, London. Hilsum worked at the Admiralty Research Laboratory from 1947 to 1950, the Services Electronics Research Laboratory (SERL) from 1950 to 1964, and the Royal Radar Establishment until 1983. After devoting 40 years to the UK Ministry of Defense, Hilsum served as Director of Research at General Electric Co. Hirst Research Centre from 1983 to 1992.

During his tenure at the Ministry of Defense, Hilsum was instrumental in the development of gallium arsenide (GaAs) as a semiconductor material. Among the applications of GaAs were transistors and lasers. Hilsum also was involved in the use of indium antimonide as an infrared detector material. In addition, he did early work on liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). He was named a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering for introducing III-V semiconductors into electronic technology. His written works include the 1961 volume titled, Semiconducting III-V Compounds (Monographs on Semiconductors).

RAY PENGELLY – Pengelly and James Turner are co-inventors of the monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). While they were working at Plessey in 1975, the two men published “Monolithic Broadband GaAs F.E.T. Amplifiers.” They managed to coax 5 dB of gain out of their small, single-stage amplifier at the X-band. To do so, they leveraged 1-µm optically written gates. According to the “History of MMICs” entry at Microwaves101.com, they used computer optimization to design their lumpedelement matching structures (see http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/historyMMIC.cfm). These structures included capacitors and inductors but no direct-current (DC) blocking on the input/output. Because backside processing had not yet been worked out, the FET’s source was grounded externally.

Pengelly gained his BSc and MSc degrees from Southampton University, England in 1969 and 1973, respectively. He began working at the Plessey Company in 1969 and managed the GaAs MMIC department at Plessey Research, Caswell from 1978 to 1986. During this time—and after several years of development—the department produced one of the world’s first phased-array radar transmit/receive modules to be put into a demonstration system. Beginning in 1986, Pengelly served as Executive Director of Design for Analog and Microwave GaAs MMICs at Tachonics Corp. in Princeton, NJ.

After a stint at Compact Software, Pengelly was employed at Raytheon Commercial Electronics (Andover, MA) in a number of positions including MMIC Design and Product Development Manager and Director of Advanced Products and New Techniques. Under these capacities, he managed a growing team to develop new products for emerging markets including power amplifiers for wireless-local-loop applications using pHEMT technology, SiGe mixed-signal products, flip-chip and chip-scale packaging, and new subsystem techniques such as I/Q pre-distortion. Since August 1999, Pengelly has been employed by Cree, Inc. in Durham, NC. Pengelly has written more than 100 technical papers and four technical books. He holds 12 patents.

ELI BROOKNER – Considered Raytheon’s “Ambassador for Radar,” Dr. Eli Brookner is a Principal Engineering Fellow with Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. As a scientist, writer, and teacher, Brookner is known for his contributions to radars and phased-array radar-system design as well as signal processing in the airborne, intelligence, space, air-traffic control, and defense mission areas. His contributions to Raytheon’s radars cover 43 years.

According to Raytheon, Brookner joined the company in 1962 as a systems engineer. In the 1970s, he collaborated on programs like Cobra Dane and Cobra Judy. He also was heavily involved in the PAVE PAWS proposal development. For the next decade, his focus was on space-based and airborne radars for surveillance. In the 1990s, Brookner’s work included supporting Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense (THAAD).

Over the last several years, Brookner has worked on programs like Cobra Dane Upgrade, Cobra Judy Replacement, Upgraded Early Warning Radar, Marine Corps Affordable Ground-Based Radar (AGBR), and multiple proposals including G/ATOR and Long-Range Radar. Through his career, Brookner has acted as a mentor to dozens of engineers across Raytheon. He also authored four books that have collectively sold more than 26,000 copies and published more than 110 papers and talks. Brookner continues to teach courses on radar, phased arrays, and tracking.

To see the full list of Microwave Legends, please visit our web site at www.mwrf.com/legends.