The Telecommunications Research Establishment and the Radar Research and Development Establishment in Malvern, Worcestershire were retained after the end of the Second World War and combined to become the Radar Research Establishment (RRE). In the Cold War period that followed, it was seen as vital for the country to retain a leading edge in the technologies required in the defence of the nation. These technologies extended beyond radar to include electronics and optics, and they required crystals of an ever-widening range of materials. To meet this need, a Materials Division was formed within the Physics Group at RRE. The Group was given the accolade by one of its Ministry of Defence masters as being ‘the Jewel in the Crown’. 

This book describes the achievements of the Division over approximately three decades up to 1990. During that period it became recognised as one of the world’s leading research laboratories in the field of Electronic Materials.