Willard Sterling Boyle, CC (August 19, 1924 – May 7, 2011) was a Canadian physicist.[4] He was a pioneer in the field of laser technology and co-inventor of the charge-coupled device.[5] As director of Space Science and Exploratory Studies at Bellcomm he helped select lunar landing sites and provided support for the Apollo space program.[6]
On October 6, 2009, it was announced that he would share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor, which has become an electronic eye in almost all areas of photography".[2]
He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada – the award's highest level – on June 30, 2010.[7]
Early life
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, on August 19, 1924, Boyle was the son of a medical doctor and moved to Quebec with his father and mother Bernice when he was less than two.[8] He was home schooled by his mother until age fourteen, when he attended Montreal's Lower Canada College to complete his secondary education.[8]
Education
Boyle attended McGill University, but his education was interrupted in 1943, when he joined the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.[8] He was loaned to the Royal Navy, where he was learning how to land Spitfires on aircraft carriers as the war ended.[8] He gained a BSc in 1947, an MSc in 1948, and a PhD in 1950, all from McGill.[9]
Career
After receiving his doctorate, Boyle spent one year at Canada's Radiation Lab and two years teaching physics at the Royal Military College of Canada.[8]
Bell Labs
In 1953 Boyle joined Bell Labs where he invented the first continuously operating ruby laser with Don Nelson in 1962,[6]
and was named on the first patent for a semiconductor injection laser.[6] He was made director of Space Science and Exploratory Studies at the Bell Labs subsidiary Bellcomm in 1962, providing support for the Apollo space program and helping to select lunar landing sites.[6] He returned to Bell Labs in 1964, working on the development of integrated circuits.[6]
In retirement he split his time between Halifax and Wallace, Nova Scotia.[13] In Wallace, he helped launch an art gallery with his wife, Betty, a landscape artist.[8] He was married to Betty since 1946 and had four children, 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.[5]
In his later years, Boyle suffered from kidney disease, and due to complications from this disease, died in a hospital in Nova Scotia on May 7, 2011.[10]
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Mahoney, Jill; Elizabeth Church (October 7, 2009). "The Nobel Physics Prize: A Canadian who took big risks takes home the big prize". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. pp. A1 –A2.
^Cassingham, Randy (May 15, 2011). "Willard Boyle". This is True. Ridgway, Colorado. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
