Peter LeComber

Peter George LeComber (or Le Comber) FRS FRSE (19 February 1941 – 9 September 1992) was a British solid-state physicist and academic. With ten patents to his name, he is in part responsible for the development of items such as flat-screen televisions and solar power cells.^[1] He worked closely with Walter Eric Spear FRS in the development of Amorphous silicon and the creation of solar panels.

Life

He was born in Ilford on 19 February 1941.^[1] His father was largely absent during his early years, serving in the Middle East during the Second World War. He attended Becontree Heath Primary School. Following a scholarship at age eleven,^[2] he studied at South East Essex Technical College and then Leicester University, graduating BSc in 1962 and then undertaking a Ph.D. From 1965 to 1967, he conducted studies at Purdue University in Indiana, USA. In 1967 he returned to Leicester University as a lecturer in physics.^[1]

He met Walter Eric Spear whilst working in Leicester and together they went to the Carnegie Laboratory of Physics, Dundee University in 1969 to establish the study of non-crystalline solids.^[3][4] In 1984 he was the recipient of the Duddell Medal.^[5] In 1984, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and in 1992, shortly before his death, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.^[1]

In 1986, Dundee University created a personal chair in Solid State Physics for him, placing the university in a critical position in the development of semiconductors.^[6]

He died of a heart attack on 9 September 1992, aged 51, whilst on a trip to Switzerland to celebrate his thirtieth wedding anniversary. As a close personal friend, Spear wrote his obituary. Spear's own research career was effectively ended by LeComber's sudden death.^[4]

Family

He married Joy Smith around 1963.^[1]

References

1. C D Waterston; A Macmillan Shearer (July 2006). Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 090219884X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
2. "Peter George Lecomber, 19 February 1941 – 9 September 1992". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 39: 213–225. 1994. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0013. ISSN 0080-4606.
3. Spear, W. E (1994). "Peter George Lecomber. 19 February 1941 – 9 September 1992". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 39: 215–225. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0013. JSTOR 770178.
4. "Notable University Figures (2) Professor Walter E. Spear". Archives, Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
5. "The Gabor medal and prize". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
6. "Notable Scientists at Dundee University : Museum : University of Dundee".