C. Thomas Elliott facts for kids

Charles Thomas Elliott, often called Tom Elliott, is a famous scientist. He was born on January 16, 1939. He is known for his work with special materials called semiconductors and for inventing things that can "see" heat, like infrared detectors. He has received important awards for his scientific discoveries.

Early Life and Studies

Tom Elliott grew up in County Durham, England. He went to Washington Grammar Technical School. After finishing his advanced studies, called a Ph.D., he worked at the University of Manchester.

A Career in Science

In the late 1960s, Tom Elliott started working at the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) in Malvern, Worcestershire. This was a place where scientists worked on new technologies for defense.

The SPRITE Detector

In the 1970s, Tom Elliott invented something very important: the SPRITE detector. SPRITE stands for "Signal PRocessing In The Element." It was also sometimes called the TED, short for Tom Elliott's Detector.

This detector was a special device that could sense infrared light. Infrared light is like heat that we can't see with our eyes. The SPRITE detector worked by scanning a heat image across a special material. This material was made from HgCdTe, which is a type of photoconductor.

The SPRITE detector became a key part of a system called TICM. TICM stands for "Thermal Imaging Common Module." This system was used by the UK armed forces starting in the 1980s. It helped them "see" in the dark by detecting heat.

Awards and Recognition

For his amazing work on the SPRITE detector, Tom Elliott received the Rank Prize in 1982. He was also chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1988. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. In 1994, he was given another special award, becoming a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

In 1997, he won the Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize for his continued contributions to science.

Other Discoveries

Tom Elliott also helped develop other important technologies. He worked with a semiconductor material called indium antimonide (InSb). This material was used for infrared detectors, magnetic sensors, and fast, low-voltage transistors.

He also explored something called negative luminescence in diodes. This is a special way that some materials can absorb light instead of giving it off.

Tom Elliott retired in 1999 from DERA, which was the new name for RRE. Today, he is an honorary professor at Heriot-Watt University.

Personal Life

In 2007, a conference center at QinetiQ (which used to be DERA Malvern) was named 'The Tom Elliott Centre' in his honor. The Princess Royal officially opened it. Tom Elliott lives in Malvern.

See also

• SPRITE infrared detector
• Negative luminescence