Some of his more significant patents include the first infrared light-emitting diode (LED),[1] the optical isolator,[2] Schottky clamped logic circuits,[3] silicon Metal Oxide Semiconductor Read Only Memory (MOS ROM),[4] a low bulk leakage current avalanche photodetector, and fiber-optic data links.

In 1991, he was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to semiconductor light-emitting diodes and lasers, Schottky-clamped logic, and read-only memories.

Bob’s mother, Mary Ruth Biard (née Bills), worked as a retail sales person at the Collegiate Shop in downtown Paris.

When Bob was a child, his pediatrician recommended a diet of mashed overripe bananas, stewed apples, and homemade dried cottage cheese as a remedy for digestive issues.

As a Dr. Pepper salesman, Jimmy knew all of the local grocery store owners and they would save the overripe bananas for Bob.

Mary would make the cottage cheese by placing unpasteurized milk in a cup towel and hanging it on an outdoor clothes line.

of the Semiconductor Components (SC) Division, Biard worked with Walt to develop and patent one of the first low-drift DC amplifier circuits using transistors.

[9] In 1959, Biard and Gary Pittman were assigned to work together in the Semiconductor Research and Development Laboratory (SRDL) on a project to create GaAs varactor diodes for X-band parametric amplifiers to be used in radar receivers.

In September 1961, Biard and Pittman discovered infrared light emission from a forward biased tunnel diode they had constructed on gallium arsenide (GaAs) semi-insulating substrate.

On August 8, 1962, Biard and Pittman filed a patent describing a zinc diffused p-n junction LED with spaced cathode contacts to allow for efficient emission of infrared light under forward bias.

Infrared light was sent through the holes or blocked by the card, which not only significantly reduced the size and power required, but also improved the reliability.

This resulted in a huge increase in quantum efficiency because up to 50% of the light emitted at the junction could escape from the chip at the hemispherical exit surface.

The absorption in the thicker N-type GaAs between the junction and exit surface resulted in less improvement in quantum efficiency than what we had hoped for, however, the dome LEDs were much more efficient.On November 29, 1963, Biard, Gary Pittman, Edward L. Bonin, and Jack Kilby filed a patent titled "Photosensitive Transistor Chopper Using Light Emissive Diode".

[14] Within the patent they described a phototransistor chopper consisting of an LED optically coupled with a dual emitter, photosensitive, silicon transistor.

In addition, they offer protection against excessively high voltages, reduce noise levels, and make measurements more accurate.

In March 1965, TI announced the SNX1304 Optoelectronic Pulse Amplifier, which was conceived and developed by Biard and Jerry Merryman, the inventor of the first handheld digital calculator.

The SNX1304 consisted of a GaAs p-n junction light emitter optically coupled to an integrated silicon photodetector feedback-amplifier circuit.

[15] In 1964, Biard designed linear transimpedance amplifiers (TIA) to work with silicon photodiodes for receiving optical signals generated by LEDs.

Biard solved this problem by connecting a silicon HP Schottky diode across the collector-base junction of the input transistor.

On March 21, 1966, at a New York IEEE show and convention, TI set up a booth to display the device as the last digit of a simulated cockpit altimeter for a Boeing 707.

By the late 1970s, MOS ROM devices had become the most common example of nonvolatile memory used to provide the storage of fixed programs in digital equipment such as calculators and microprocessor systems.

In September 1986, per the request of Texas Instruments, Biard testified before the ITC in Washington D.C.; however, the judge determined that the firms did not violate TI's patent rights.

While at Spectronics, Biard worked on the design of many of their standard products including silicon photodiodes, phototransistors, photodarlington devices, and GaAs light-emitting diodes.

[19] During this time, he also designed and set up the Spectronics, Inc. optical standards lab and most of the special test equipment for component calibration and evaluation such as a spot scan microscope, a radiation pattern plotter, and constant temperature burn-in racks for LEDs.

In 1978, he worked on integrated circuits consisting of an LED driver and pin diode receiver used for digital fiber-optic communications.

In 2006, Honeywell sold the VCSEL group to the Finisar Corporation, which hired Biard on half time as a consultant Senior Scientist for the Advanced Optical Components Division in Allen, TX.

While working for Finisar, Biard was issued a total of 28 engineering patents related to the design of 850 nm VCSELs and photodiodes used for high-speed fiber optic data transmission.

On October 15, 2014, Texas A&M University's College of Engineering published an article titled "ECE professor leads way to Nobel Prize", which focused on Biard's invention of the GaAs infrared LED and discussed his career in the field of optoelectronics.

In November 2015, the Edison Tech Center shared a paper co-authored by Biard about the development of the LED at Texas Instruments in the 1960s.

His papers include: In 1969, Biard was elected as a Life Fellow of IEEE cited for "outstanding contributions in the field of optoelectronics".