# Peter LeComber
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{{short description|British physicist and academic (1941–1992)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
'''Peter George LeComber''' (or '''Le Comber''') [FRS](/source/Royal_Society_of_London) [FRSE](/source/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.[{{Cite book |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |title=Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J) |author=C D Waterston |author2=A Macmillan Shearer |publisher=[Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh) |isbn=090219884X |date=July 2006 |access-date=18 September 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf |url-status=dead}}] He worked closely with [Walter Eric Spear](/source/Walter_Eric_Spear) FRS in the development of [Amorphous silicon](/source/Amorphous_silicon) and the creation of solar panels.
==Life==
He was born in [Ilford](/source/Ilford) on 19 February 1941.[{{Cite journal |title=Peter George Lecomber, 19 February 1941 – 9 September 1992 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |date=1994 |language=en |volume=39 |pages=213–225 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1994.0013 |issn=0080-4606|doi-access=free }}] he studied at South East Essex Technical College and then [Leicester University](/source/Leicester_University), graduating BSc in 1962 and then undertaking a Ph.D. From 1965 to 1967, he conducted studies at [Purdue University](/source/Purdue_University) in [Indiana](/source/Indiana), USA. In 1967 he returned to [Leicester University](/source/Leicester_University) as a lecturer in physics.[{{Cite journal|jstor = 770178|title = Peter George Lecomber. 19 February 1941 – 9 September 1992|journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume = 39|pages = 215–225|last1 = Spear|first1 = W. E|year = 1994|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1994.0013|doi-access = free}}][{{cite web|title =Notable University Figures (2) Professor Walter E. Spear|date=29 July 2011|url=http://www.archives-records-artefacts.blogspot.com/2011/07/notable-university-figures-2-professor.html|publisher=Archives, Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee|accessdate=2 February 2016}}] In 1984 he was the recipient of the [Duddell Medal](/source/Duddell_Medal).[{{Cite web |url=http://www.iop.org/about/awards/subject/gabor/page_38544.html |title=The Gabor medal and prize |access-date=29 October 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924051247/http://www.iop.org/about/awards/subject/gabor/page_38544.html |url-status=dead }}] In 1984, he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh) and in 1992, shortly before his death, he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of London](/source/Royal_Society_of_London).[{{Cite web|url=http://www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/exhibitions/madetomeasure/scientists/|title = Notable Scientists at Dundee University : Museum : University of Dundee}}]
He died of a heart attack on 9 September 1992, aged 51, whilst on a trip to [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland) to celebrate his thirtieth wedding anniversary. As a close personal friend, [Spear](/source/Walter_Eric_Spear) wrote his obituary. Spear's own research career was effectively ended by LeComber's sudden death.