Milestone-Proposal:Charge Coupled Display Device

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Docket #:2024-12

This proposal has been submitted for review.

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To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No

Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes

Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes

Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes

Was it of at least regional importance? Yes

Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes

Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes

Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes

Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes

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Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:

1970-1974

Title of the proposed milestone:

Charge Coupled Display Device

Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance; if personal name(s) are included, such name(s) must follow the achievement itself in the citation wording: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.

For the invention of the CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) a technique and resultant devices that have wide application, especially in the area of semiconductor imaging, present today in nearly every mobile phone on Earth.

200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.

The invention of the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) in the late 1960s by Willard Boyle and George Smith at Bell Labs marked a revolutionary leap in imaging technology. This breakthrough, initially conceived for digital memory applications, transformed the way we capture and process light, impacting fields ranging from astronomy to medicine. Prior to CCDs, capturing images relied on bulky and slow photographic film. CCDs, however, offered a compact, sensitive, and highly efficient way to convert light into digital signals. They operate by storing light-generated charges in a series of tiny capacitors, which are then read out electronically. This digital nature enabled unprecedented control over image manipulation, storage, and transmission. The historical significance of CCDs is multifaceted. In astronomy, they revolutionized observation, allowing astronomers to capture faint objects and distant galaxies with unparalleled clarity. In medicine, CCDs enabled the development of digital X-ray imaging, endoscopy, and digital microscopy, leading to improved diagnostics and treatment. The widespread adoption of CCDs in consumer cameras democratized photography, making high-quality imaging accessible to everyone. The CCD's impact extends beyond imaging. Its principles are applied in various fields, including spectroscopy, medical imaging, and even scientific research. The invention of the CCD stands as a testament to the power of fundamental scientific discoveries to transform our world, shaping the way we perceive and interact with the universe around us.

IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.

Solid-State Circuits, PHotonics

In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?

North Jersey

IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:

IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):

Unit: North Jersey Section
Senior Officer Name: Hong Zhao

IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:

Unit: North Jersey Section
Senior Officer Name: Hong Zhao

IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):

IEEE Section: North Jersey
IEEE Section Chair name: Hong Zhao

Milestone proposer(s):

Proposer name: Theodore Sizer
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public

Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.

Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):

600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, NJ 07974 40.684031, -74.401783

Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.

Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. Intention is to have the plaque just outside the main entrance to the Nokia Bell Labs facility in Murray Hill, NJ. Is both a corporate building and an Historic Site as other historical markers from IEEE are already on site both inside and outside the building.

Are the original buildings extant?

Yes

Details of the plaque mounting:

Outside the building on a rock or other permanent structure.

How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?

The plaque will be prior to entering the building and thus there is no need to pass through security.

Who is the present owner of the site(s)?

Nokia America

What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include detailed support at the end of this section preceded by "Justification for Inclusion of Name(s)". (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)

Invention of semiconductor imaging devices, now in nearly univeral use in society in cameras. Nobel Prize award in 2009 awarded to Willard Boyle and George Smith of Bell Labs.

What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?

The semiconductor designs to isolate charges storing them locally, and then able to move these charges through modulation of electrical voltages in the devices, required new and novel semiconductor designs. Novelty included the ability to store charge locally in a well, shift these charges laterally, and then able to determine the presence (or not) of charge and its magnitude.

What features set this work apart from similar achievements?

First solid state imager which until this time had been dominated by film. As we know now, the CCD has nearly completely supplanted film as the imaging method in our society.

Why was the achievement successful and impactful?

The CCD was revolutionary in that it was able to capture images and then display quickly at a time when film was dominant. The advantages were many: miniaturization, lack of chemicals for development, and fast availability of the images being the principal benefits.

Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.

W.S. Boyle and G. E. Smith, "Charge Coupled Semiconductor Devices" BSTJ 29 January 1970, pp 587-593 Tompsett M. F, et al "Charge-Coupled Imaging Devices: Experimental Results" IEEE Trans on Electron Devices v ED-18, No.11, November 1971, pp992-996 W.S. Boyle, G.E. Smith, "Charge coupled devices - A new approach to MIS device structures" IEEE Spectrum v8, #7, 1971 US Patent 3796927 12 March 1974, "Three Dimensional Charge Coupled Devices" W.S. Boyle, G.E. Smith, "The Inception of Charge-Coupled Devices" IEEE Trans on Electron Devices v ED-23, #7 1976 pp661-663

Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.

Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).

Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.