Hidden Microwaves [President´s Column]

In what follows, let ?hidden microwaves? be a made-up term describing two aspects of RF, microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz (in short: microwave) technologies. The first aspect is due to the fact that propagating electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies are not visible, and we cannot taste, touch, smell, or hear them. The second aspect is associated with the trend that microwave technologies, in particular microwave semiconductor technologies, are becoming more and more integrated into miniaturized modules and chips and have become invisible to the user of microwave-based equipment. This is of course not the case for many lower-frequency antennas and some other special lower-frequency components, but discarding this kind of low-frequency equipment for the moment, in this second aspect also we may use the term ?hidden microwaves.? Both aspects of hidden microwaves may lead to disputes and misunderstandings in the public.