Willard Sterling Boyle,CC (August 19, 1924 – May 7, 2011) was a Canadianphysicist.[4] He was a pioneer in the field oflaser technology and co-inventor of thecharge-coupled device.[5] As director of Space Science and Exploratory Studies atBellcomm he helped select lunar landing sites and provided support for theApollo space program.[6]
On October 6, 2009, it was announced that he would share the 2009Nobel 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 theOrder of Canada – the award's highest level – on June 30, 2010.[7]
Born inAmherst, 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 attendedMontreal'sLower Canada College to complete his secondary education.[8]
Boyle attendedMcGill University, but his education was interrupted in 1943, when he joined theRoyal Canadian Navy during World War II.[8] He was loaned to theRoyal Navy, where he was learning how to landSpitfires onaircraft 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]
After receiving his doctorate, Boyle spent one year at Canada's Radiation Lab and two years teaching physics at theRoyal Military College of Canada.[8]
In 1953 Boyle joinedBell Labs where he invented the first continuously operatingruby laser with Don Nelson in 1962,[6] and was named on the first patent for asemiconductor injection laser.[6] He was made director of Space Science and Exploratory Studies at theBell Labs subsidiary Bellcomm in 1962, providing support for theApollo space program and helping to select lunar landing sites.[6] He returned to Bell Labs in 1964, working on the development ofintegrated circuits.[6]
In retirement he split his time between Halifax andWallace, Nova Scotia.[13] In Wallace, he helped launch an art gallery with his wife, Betty, alandscape 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]
^abcdefMahoney, 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.
^"Nobel laureate dies Saturday".Amherst Daily News. Amherst, N.S. May 8, 2011. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 22, 2015.
