The main and key component of every microwave oven is its magnetron, which is the power unit that creates the microwave energy. Simple magnetrons were developed in the by Albert Hull of general electric. The development was pretty slow until WWII when the Radar became an essential weapon for flying and the detection of enemy aircraft.
The Germans by passed the technology in favor of the klystron as they thought that the magnetron was unreliable. In Britain at Birmingham University John Randall and Dr Boot managed to stabilize the magnetron and increase its power a hundred fold, but the war took its toll on Britain's money and the budget dried up. Winston Churchill and Lord Tizard took the decision to swap the technology with the United States in return for aid.
At the Massachusettes Institute Of Technology the technology was developed further and the radars produced were instrumental in winning the war for the allies. Percy L Spencer and his team managed to mass produce the radar giving the allies a great advantage over the Germans. It was Spencer who moved the microwave technology further after a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. He tested the microwaves cooking power on popcorn and eggs and the Raytheon registered the patent in 1947. Raytheon tried to market a domestic versions of the microwave oven in the late 1950s and early part of the 1960s, but it was not until 1967 when Raytheon aquired Litton that a good domestic version was developed and prices began to fall, and by the end of the 1980s, with better controls and the initial scares dispelled, 95% of American households had a microwave oven.
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History of the Microwave Ovens
