In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1930
- Died
- 2025
- Birthplace
- White Plains, New York, United States
- Country
- United States
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Invention of the charge-coupled device with Willard Boyle
- Known for
- Invention of the charge-coupled device with Willard Boyle
Why this life matters
Invention of the charge-coupled device with Willard Boyle.
Timeline
Key moments
A way to move information as stored charge
Smith and Boyle conceived the CCD in 1969. Their 1970 paper describes storing charge in potential wells at a semiconductor surface and moving it by changing electrode potentials. The proposed applications included memory and imaging. The core idea concerned generating or injecting charge, transferring it and detecting it. Turning that concept into useful image sensors also required further work by other researchers. The distinction preserves both the importance of the original device principle and the development needed to make practical electronic imaging systems.
Recognition and a completed life
Smith and Boyle shared the part of the 2009 physics prize recognising the CCD imaging semiconductor circuit; Charles Kao received the other half for optical-fibre work. Smith died on 28 May 2025, as the official Nobel record now confirms. His contribution helped make stored electrical charge useful as a representation that could be moved and read within a semiconductor device. That does not mean every modern camera uses a CCD or that the two inventors alone supplied every stage of digital photography. The related guide focuses on the mechanism rather than making either broader claim.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about George E. Smith
- What is George E. Smith known for?
- Invention of the charge-coupled device with Willard Boyle.
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Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Nobel Prize OutreachGeorge E.Smith—Facts
OfficialFactsfetchedafterweb 403 andactualtextread:1930 WhitePlains, death 28 May 2025, quarterprizeshare,1969CCDandshortworksummary. Cachedtechnology-c-smith-facts.html/.txt; currentdeathrecorddistinguishedfromaward-eraemployment.
- 2. George E.Smith / Nobel Foundation,2009George E.Smith—Biographical
Actualfirst 4200 charactersread:Navalservice, Pennsylvania 1955, ChicagoPhD1959, BellLabs/Boyle, researchprogrammeand 1969CCD. Award-erafirstpersonaccountnotcurrentemploymentstatement.
- 3. W.S.Boyle and G.E.Smith / Bell System Technical Journal,1970Charge Coupled Semiconductor Devices
Completeindexedprimaryabstract andopeningprimary-pagepassageactuallyread:potentialwells, chargegeneration/transfer/detection, electrodepotentials andmemory/imagingapplications. Nooriginalfigureordevicenumericcurveused.
- 4. George E.Smith / Reviews of Modern Physics,2010Nobel Lecture:The invention and early history of the CCD
Actualprimaryauthorlectureopeningread:1969 inception, magneticbubbles, silicondiodearrayandMOScontext. Scopedopeningonly, notclaimedfulltechnicallectureread.
