physics

Michael Francis Tompsett

Michael Francis Tompsett is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Michael Francis Tompsett rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Tompsett (born 1939) is an English-born physicist, engineer, and inventor, and the founder director of the US software company TheraManager. He is a former researcher at the English Electric Valve Company, who later moved to Bell Labs in the United States.

Key takeaways

Michael Francis Tompsett belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael Francis Tompsett to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael Francis Tompsett from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael Tompsett (born 1939) is an English-born physicist, engineer, and inventor, and the founder director of the US software company TheraManager. He is a former researcher at the English Electric Valve Company, who later moved to Bell Labs in the United States. Tompsett designed and built the first ever video camera with a solid-state (CCD) sensor. Tompsett received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2017, with Eric Fossum, George Smith, and Nobukazu Teranishi. Tompsett has also received two other lifetime awards; the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame 2010 Pioneer Award, and the 2012 IEEE Edison Medal. The thermal-imaging camera tube developed from his invention also earned a Queen's Award in 1987. Tompsett is known particularly for his work on infrared imagers and CCD imagers. He pioneered compact, low power, high performance, and low cost solid-state infrared imagers, CCD imagers, and digital cameras and made contributions in several fields with patents and publications over an extended period of time. He is credited with applying the principle behind the charge-coupled device to invent the CCD imager, used in devices such as digital cameras.

Education and career He studied physics at the University of Cambridge and also completed an engineering PhD there (1962–66). Tompsett built a reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) system to study surfaces. While at English Electric Valve (EEV), he built the first ultra-high-vacuum RHEED system with in-situ deposition to study the structures of thin-films of lead oxide as they were deposited. This understanding was needed to make Plumbicon television camera-tubes. He consulted with VacGen (now VG Scienta) to make a commercial system, the first of which was sold to IBM Labs. In 1968 while still at EEV, Tompsett invented the un-cooled Pyro-electric thermal-imaging camera tube. He also invented a solid-state version, which is now the basis for thermal imagers made today. These imagers are used with great impact by the military for night-vision, by firefighters to see through smoke, and for other search-and-rescue and civilian uses worldwide. In 1969, he moved to New Jersey with his wife, and joined AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he helped to make the first charge-coupled device (CCD), and led development of CCDs. He exploited the device’s potential for digital imaging and, together with his team, developed a series of CCD cameras and produced the first pixel CCD colour image in 1972. It was a picture of his wife and made the cover of Electronics Magazine. In 1979, he pioneered the development of the first, integrated circuit, data modem using Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOSFET) silicon switched-capacitor filters, and a patented Automatic Gain Control circuit. This was the first mixed analog-digital integrated circuit/system to go into manufacture. This technology has now grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. In the 1980s Tompsett applied himself to finding a solution to a major challenge to reduce the size, power, and cost of digitizing video signals from imagers and scanners. He invented an integrated, two-step recycling video analog-digital converter. After taking early retirement from Bell Labs in 1989, he joined the US Army as Director of Electron Device Research for six years. In 2010 the US Government awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, its highest honor for engineers and inventors. In 2016, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for the design and development of the first charge-coupled device imagers.

Technical accomplishments Tompsett made technological contributions in several different specialty areas including materials science, night vision, charge-coupled devices, and integrated circuit design over a lifetime of work. He is responsible for significant invention, development, and leadership of several socially beneficial enabling technologies in use today. These include the in-situ monitoring of deposited epitaxial films, un-cooled night-vision thermal imaging camera tubes, un-cooled solid-state thermal imagers, CCD imagers and CCD cameras, MOS mixed analog-digital integrated systems, and integrated video analog-digital converters.

Awards and honors Tompsett was elected Fellow of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1987. Tompsett received the 2010 Pioneer Lifetime Award from the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. Tompsett received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on US engineers and inventors presented by President Obama in 2011. Tompsett received the IEEE Edison Medal in 2012. Tompsett received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering presented by Prince Charles in 2017. Tompsett received The Progress Medal from the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in 2017. Tompsett received a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2020.

Bibliography "Charge transfer imaging devices", U.S. Patent 4,085,456, priority date March 16, 1971; filing date August 30, 1972; publication date April 18, 1978 (retrieved December 23, 2009).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Francis Tompsett

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Francis Tompsett claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael Francis Tompsett before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael Francis Tompsett ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael Francis Tompsett

In research: Michael Francis Tompsett appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael Francis Tompsett in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael Francis Tompsett is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1939 births, British physicists, Digital imaging, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Francis Tompsett outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Michael Francis Tompsett” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Michael Francis Tompsett in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael Francis Tompsett means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael Francis Tompsett out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Francis Tompsett in simple terms?

Why does Michael Francis Tompsett matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael Francis Tompsett?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael Francis Tompsett.