Rudolf Kompfner (May 16, 1909 – December 3, 1977) was an Austrian-born inventor, physicist and architect, best known as the inventor of the
traveling-wave tube
A traveling-wave tube (TWT, pronounced "twit") or traveling-wave tube amplifier (TWTA, pronounced "tweeta") is a specialized vacuum tube that is used in electronics to amplify radio frequency (RF) signals in the microwave range. The TWT belongs t ...
(TWT).
Life
Kompfner was born in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to Jewish parents. He was originally trained as an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and after receiving his university degree in 1933 he moved to England (due to the rise of anti-Semitism), where he worked as an architect until 1941. He had a strong interest in physics and
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
, and after being briefly detained by the British at the start of World War II he was recruited to work in a secret
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
research program at the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
. While there, Kompfner invented the TWT in 1943. After the war he became a British citizen, continued working for the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
as a scientist, and also studied physics at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, receiving his
D.Phil.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1951.
In 1965, he received an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from the
Vienna University of Technology
TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...
.
Patents
1957
* Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier. (Issued 8/27/57.)
* Traveling Wave Tube. (Issued 10/29/57.)
* Electron Beam System. (Issued 11/5/57.)
1958
* Traveling Wave Tube. (Issued 5/13/58.)
* Electron Beam System. (Issued 10/21/58.)
* Non-reciprocal Wave Transmission. (Issued 11/11/58.)
1959
* Traveling Wave Tube. (Issued 1/6/59.)
* Direct View Storage Tube. (Issued 3/24/59.)
* Backward Wave Tube. (Issued 6/16/59.)
* Traveling Wave Tube. (Issued 7/14/59.)
* Apparatus Utilizing Slalom Focusing. (Issued 8/11/59.)
* Non-reciprocal Wave Transmission Device. (Issued 11/3/59.)
* Backward Wave Amplifier. (Issued 12/8/59.)
1960
* Non-reciprocal Elements in Microwave Tubes. (Issued 1/26/60.)
* Coaxial Couplers. (Issued 2/16/60.)
* Pulse Coincidence Detecting Tube. (Issued 4/19/60.)
* Electron Gun for Slalom Focusing Systems. (Issued 5/31/60.)
* High Efficiency Velocity Modulation Devices. (Issued 8/16/60.)
* Traveling Wave Tube. (Issued 10/4/60.)
1961
* Low Noise Amplifier. (Issued 2/14/61.)
* High Frequency Amplifier. (Issued 2/21/61.)
*
Backward Wave Tube. (Issued 5/23/61.)
* Elastic Wave Parametric Amplifier. (Issued 12/5/61.)
1962
* Parallel High Frequency Amplifier Circuits. (Issued 2/15/62.)
* Scanning Horn-Reflector Antenna. (Issued 2/13/62.)
* Microwave Filter. (Issued 6/26/62.)
* Broadband Cyclotron Wave Parametric Amplifier. (Issued 8/28/62.)
* High Frequency Generator. (Issued 12/4/62.)
1964
* Traveling Wave Light Modulator. (Issued 5/12/64.)
* Artificial Scattering Elements for Use as Reflectors in Space Communication Systems. (Issued 9/29/64.)
* Detector for Optical Communication System. (Issued 10/27/64.)
1965
* Beam Collector with Auxiliary Collector for Repelled or Secondarily-Emitted Electrons. (Issued 6 /8/65.)
* Antenna System. (Issued 7/20/65.)
* Sinusoidal-Shaped Lens for Light Wave Communication. (Issued 12/21/65.)
* Transmission of Light Waves. (Issued 12/21/65.)
1966
* Optical Maser Amplifier. (Issued 5/24/66.)
* Antenna System. (Issued 9/13/66.)
* Triple Element S-Lens Focusing System. (Issued 11/15/66.)
1967
* Spherical Reflector Elastic Wave Delay Device with Planar Transducers. (Issued 5/2/67.)
1969
* Intracavity Image Converter. (Issued 7/8/69.)
1970
* Receiving Antenna Apparatus Compensated for Antenna Surface Irregularities. (Issued 1/13/70.)
* Anti-Doppler Shift Antenna for Mobile Radio. (Issued 3/24/70.)
* Multiple-Pass Light-Deflecting Modulator. (Issued 3/31/70.)
* Multiple-Pass Light-Deflecting Modulator. (Issued 3/31/70.)
* Optical Waveguide. (Issued 4/14/70.)
* Time Division Multiplex Optical Transmission System. (Issued 4/l4/70.)
* Digital Light Deflecting Systems. (Issued 6/2/70.)
* Method and Apparatus for Obtaining 3-Dimensional Images from Recorded Standing Patterns. (Issued 7/14/70.)
* Optical Heterodyne Receiver with Pulse Widening or Stretching. (Issued 9/22/70.)
* Light Communication System with Improved Signal- to-Noise Ratio. (Issued 10/6/70.)
1977
* Method of and Apparatus for Acoustic Imaging. (Issued 3/15/77.)
References
* Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
*
External links
* , p. 4
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kompfner, Rudolf
1909 births
1977 deaths
Austrian Jews
British Jews
British physicists
American electrical engineers
Austrian electrical engineers
National Medal of Science laureates
IEEE Medal of Honor recipients
Jewish American scientists
Scientists at Bell Labs
Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism
British electrical engineers
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Academics of the University of Birmingham
20th-century American engineers
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
20th-century American Jews