President´s Message - Microwaves of the 70´s

J.B. Horton, President of G-MTT, in his keynote address at the 1973 G-MTT International Microwave Symposium, outlined three directions which G-MTT and the microwave industry should take for future growth. A summary of his talk is presented. Horton urged listeners to proceed as follows: 1) Emphasize new and broader based applications of conventional microwave techniques with emphasis on socialtechnological applications. 2) Integrate solid-state technology with microwave techniques, with emphasis on wide-band components at millimeterwave frequencies. During the 70´s one can expect continuing advances in these solid-state components. For example, one can predict that within the next five years we will have IMPATT diodes capable of generating 100 mW at 250 GHz, varactor diodes with 2000-GHz cutoff frequencies, and field-effect transistors fully operational as low noise devices and power devices at X band. Finally, 3) he proposes that engineers begin to seriously look at submillimeter and optical frequencies to develop components for future high data rate systems. By high data rate, he means systems that require 40-50-GHz signal bandwidth.