Cyril Hilsum, a government physicist whose research was instrumental in the creation of flat-panel displays, has died at the age of 101. His work on stable liquid crystals paved the way for the ubiquitous flat-panel television and computer screens seen today.
In the late 1960s, Hilsum led a Ministry of Defence team at the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE) in Malvern, Worcestershire. Under Harold Wilson's Labour government, his team was tasked with developing flat displays to replace bulky cathode-ray-tube screens for a new generation of miniature radar systems.
Hilsum collaborated with George Gray from Hull University and Peter Raynes, an optoelectronics expert at the RRE. By 1972, they had developed a liquid crystal mixture, primarily made of cyanobiphenyls, suitable for screens. This mixture was stable when exposed to heat, sunlight, or ultraviolet light, providing durability for real-world applications.
Although initially intended for radar technology, these liquid crystal displays (LCDs) found broader uses. The MoD held the patents, but Hilsum arranged for chemicals company BDH to manufacture and sell the mixtures under licence. This arrangement generated more than £100m in royalties for the government from their use in various devices, including watches, calculators, laptops, tablets, and phones.
Hilsum's contributions also extended to semiconductor research, including the development of infrared lasers for fibre optic telecommunications and the Gunn diode, used in motion detectors and police radar speed guns. He served as the UK's chief scientific officer for two decades from 1974 and was appointed CBE in 1990 for his services to the electrical and electronics industry.