William Webster Hansen
| William Webster Hansen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 27, 1909 Fresno, California |
| Died | May 23, 1949 (aged 39) Palo Alto, California |
| Nationality | U.S. |
| Fields | accelerator physics |
| Institutions | Hansen Laboratories |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Known for | microwave electronics |
William Webster Hansen (May 27, 1909 – May 23, 1949) was an American physicist and professor. He was one of the founders of the technology of microwave electronics.
Hansen's father who was an immigrant from Denmark, was a hardware store owner in Fresno, California. He encouraged his son's early talent in mathematics and enthusiasm for electronics. He entering Stanford University at the age of 16. he earned his B.A. in 1929, and his Ph. D. in 1933.
Hansen went on to become interested in the problem of accelerating electrons for X-ray experiments, using oscillating fields, rather than large static voltages. At the University of California, Berkeley, Ernest Lawrence and his assistant David H. Sloan, had worked on an accelerator driven by a resonant coil. Hansen proposed replacing the coil with a cavity resonator. In 1937, brothers Russel H. Varian and Sigurd F. Varian came to Stanford to work on the foundations of what was to become radar. Hansen exploited some of the Varian's work to develop the klystron and during the years 1937 to 1940, along with collaborators such as John R. Woodyard, founded the field of microwave electronics. In 1941, he moved his team to the Sperry Gyroscope Company where they spent the war years employing their expertise in radar applications and in other problems.
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