Louis Malter (April 28, 1907 – May 7, 1985) was an American physicist specializing in vacuum tube research and high-vacuum systems. He is known for his 1936 discovery of the eponymous

Malter effect The Malter effect is named after Louis Malter, who first described the effect. Following exposure to ionizing radiation (e.g., electrons, ions, X-rays, extreme ultraviolet, vacuum ultraviolet), secondary electron emission from the surface of a thin ...

Biography

Louis Malter was born on April 28, 1907, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He graduated in 1926 with a B.S. from the College of the City of New York. He then taught physics at the college from 1926 to 1928. In 1931, Malter received his M.A. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and he received his Ph.D. in 1936. After receiving his Ph.D., Malter was employed by the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, first working in the Acoustic Research and Photophone Division between 1928 and 1930, then at the RCA Manufacturing Company between 1933 and 1942. In 1941, Malter was elected a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. From 1943 to 1946, Malter led the RCA Manufacturing Company's Special Development Division. In May 1946, Malter became the head of the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

's Vacuum Tube Research Section in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, before returning to RCA in 1949. Between 1949 and 1955, Malter corresponded with

Leonard Benedict Loeb Leonard Benedict Loeb (September 16, 1891 – June 17, 1978) was a Swiss-born American physicist. He was the son of Jacques Loeb Jacques Loeb (; ; April 7, 1859 – February 11, 1924) was a German-born American physiologist and biologist. Biogra ...

. In the early 1950s, Malter was the Chief Engineer of the RCA Semiconductor Division. In the late 1950s, he was recruited to direct the Varian Vacuum Division of

Varian Associates Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first vacuum tube which could amplify ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

. In the 1970s, Malter acted as an expert on high-vacuum systems at

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

's Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine.

Personal life

Malter died on May 7, 1985, in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

. He was married twice, and had three children.

Selected publications

* * * * * (After receiving his Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, D. B. Langmuir worked for RCA in Harrison, New Jersey. During WW II he worked with

Vannevar Bush Vannevar Bush ( ; March 11, 1890 – June 28, 1974) was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who during World War II headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), through which almost all wartime ...

. ) * * * 1950 (over 850 citations) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malter, Louis 1907 births 1985 deaths City College of New York alumni Cornell University alumni RCA people Silicon Valley people 20th-century American physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society