CPI Electron Device Business is the new name for one of the world’s largest producers of magnetrons and a prolific developer of electromagnetic systems for aerospace and defense markets, as a result of its acquisition by TransDigm from Communications & Power Industries. Before it was spun out from CPI in mid-2024 and acquired by TransDigm for about $1.385 billion, it was formerly the Electron Device Business of Varian Associates and has long been a global manufacturer of electronic components and subsystems including radio frequency and microwave products. Now CPI-EDB operates as one of the more than 50 companies owned by Transdigm which primarily provide aircraft components for commercial and military fleets around the world.
The portfolio of magnetrons is extensive with versions specialized for air traffic control, beacon transponders, frequency agile requirements, linear particle accelerators, electronic warfare threat systems and weather radar. Its coaxial magnetrons are used as high-power microwave generators in radar systems, particularly in applications where fast frequency tuning is required. Their design allows for wideband operation and quick frequency adjustments, making them able to generate powerful microwave pulses for detecting targets at various distances and speeds. Frequencies range from 1 GHz to 35 GHz and power levels from 100 W to 3 MW. Generally, magnetrons have two permanent magnets inside to produce a magnetic field for curving the path of electrons to generate the microwaves, however, there are many variations in design and the type of magnet used.
They are among the company’s array of several thousand products including a wide range of vacuum electron devices (VED) and solid-state power devices that can be used to generate or amplify various forms of electromagnetic energy, to transmit, direct, measure and control electromagnetic energy and to provide the voltages and currents to power and control devices that generate electromagnetic energy.
Magnetron oscillators are VEDs capable of generating high-power output at high efficiency and relatively low cost. Magnetrons generate power levels as high as 20 megawatts and cover frequencies up to the 40 GHz range. CPI EDB designs and manufactures magnetrons for radar, electronic warfare and missile programs within the defense market. Shipboard platforms include search and air traffic control radar on most aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers of NATO-country naval fleets. Ground-based installations include various military and civil search and air traffic control radar systems. Its magnetrons are also used in commercial weather radar. Other uses for magnetrons include high-power microwave systems for disruption of enemy electronic equipment and the disabling or destruction of roadside bombs and other IEDs.
Magneto-optical traps and quantum technology for positioning
Quantum technology including magneto-optical traps for working in extremely low temperatures are another hallmark area for the company, particularly through its TMD Technologies division located in Hayes, England. A magneto-optical trap is a device used in atomic physics to cool and trap neutral atoms by combining laser light with a magnetic field, effectively creating a region where atoms can be held extremely still at very low temperatures, close to absolute zero. They can help enable new ways of precise navigation, positioning and timing not dependent upon global positioning systems, a sought-after technology in defense markets.
Unlike GPS, which relies on the transmission and receipt of external signals, quantum systems can provide timing and positioning data through internal synchronization. This allows the systems to calculate accurate time and positioning data through dead reckoning, rather than by depending on satellite signals. As a result, the inertial guidance system is useful in locations and situations where satellite signals are impractical, such as underground transit systems, and for defense and military end uses for quantum-enabled positioning, navigation and timing systems.
TMD Technologies is making ongoing and substantial investment in the development of quantum systems. In 2023, a research group led by the company was awarded more than £4 million in government innovation funding to develop a quantum inertial sensor based on TMD’s technologies, one of them being the compact grating magneto-optical trap.
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, TransDigm Group manufactures engineered aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft in service today, many of them involving magnetic technologies. There are more than 110 manufacturing locations. Major product offerings include electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, advanced sensor products, switches and relay panels, lighting and controls.
For more info, see www.cpi-epd.com, www.transdigm.com.
