In January, 1970, W.S. Boyle and G.E. Smith [Bell Sys. Tech J., 49 (1970) 587] described the theory of a new type of imaging detector consisting of an array of conductor-insulator-semiconductor capacitors.  This new system, called a charge coupled device (CCD) stored charge in electronic potential wells formed on the surface of a semiconductor chip.  The charge could be moved across the surface of the semiconductor between adjacent capacitors by controlling the location of potential barriers and minima.  By moving the charge to the edge of the capacitor array, the magnitude of the charge could be measured by an appropriate detector.  Immediately following this theoretical description, G.F. Amelio, M.F. Tompsett and G.E. Smith [Bell Sys. Tech J., 49 (1970) 593] experimentally verified the CCD’s operating principle with charge transfer efficiencies of greater than 98 percent and transfer times of less than 100 nanoseconds.  Today, charge coupled devices are widely used for industrial and recreational applications in systems ranging from imaging spectrometers to digital cameras.