Dr. Ernst worked in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which involves elements of chemistry, physics and engineering.
While working at a company in Palo Alto, Calif., Dr. Ernst and Weston Anderson, a U.S. scientist, conducted breakthrough research that involved subjecting atoms to short, intense pulses instead of slow radio waves. The findings created new measurements that offered further insight into the properties of atomic nuclei, leading to an enhanced form of magnetic resonance imaging.
As a professor in the 1970s at a university in Zurich, Dr. Ernst made further breakthroughs when he developed high-resolution, two-dimensional techniques that allowed for larger molecules to be analyzed. 3D analysis was eventually made possible, paving the way for today’s MRI.
“It was my goal to develop something which could be used afterwards,” Dr. Ernst said in a 2001 interview published on the Nobel website and cited by the Post. “I was more interested in really designing tools. So I’m a toolmaker and not really a scientist in this sense and I wanted to provide other people these capabilities of solving problems.”
In 1991, Dr. Ernst was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
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