Microwave power applications

The field of microwave power applications is little recognized within the publications of the IEEE, yet it represents the most universal connection of microwave technology to the everyday life of people worldwide through the microwave oven. The technology of efficient low-cost microwave power sources has progressed not only to permit the economic feasibility of the microwave oven, but also a growing myriad of other commercial and industrial applications. The most successful of these is in the food industry for meat tempering and cooking-mostly of bacon. Other successful applications include plasma discharge devices for UV curing and lighting. In the future, applications to comfort heating of man and animals and various microwave power transmissions are foreseen. Problems of hazard perception and interference are now recognized as potential impediments to accelerated progress. The resolution of these problems requires cooperation between various parties, including the power application industries and the wireless communication industries. Another prerequisite for the realization of the vision by Kapitsa of primacy of power applications is the extension of efficient and economical power sources to a variety of operating frequencies and power levels. At the moment, only the magnetron qualifies as a candidate device for this task, despite its excess noise characteristics. It is in the device area, as well as new applications that surprises are sure to come, repeating the feature of surprise so evident in the history of this field to this point.