The CCD sensor: A semiconductor circuit for capturing images. On the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Charles Kuen Kao, Willard

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 was jointly award- ed to two scientists (in addition to Charles Kuen Kao): Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, both of Bell Laboratories in Mur- ray Hill, New Jersey, for having invented, in 1969, an imaging semiconductor circuit, the CCD (charge-coupled device), an electronic device which allowed an important development of digital cameras, both photography and video. A year later, Bell Labs already had the first CCD-based camcorder. In commer- cial cameras it is being replaced by CMOS sensors, but in some capture systems it is still the most important component, especially because of its low levels of noise. This article exam- ines the functioning and evolution of the device.