Are you fed up with your camera – or any camera – not being able to
take decent low-light photos? Just be patient. Swiss researchers have
developed a molybdenite light sensor, that they say is five times more
light-sensitive than current technology.
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| EPFL's prototype molybdenite light sensor |
On an ordinary light sensor, the semi-conducting silicon surface of
each pixel generates an electrical charge in response to exposure to
light. The camera’s firmware processes those individual charges to form
one cohesive image.
Molybdenite requires much less light energy than silicon, in order to
produce a charge. Knowing this, an Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne (EPFL) team led by Prof. Andras Kis developed a
proof-of-concept prototype light sensor that utilizes a one-atom-thick
layer of molybdenite instead of silicon. They discovered that the
sensor’s single pixel produced a charge using just one fifth the amount
of light energy required by a pixel on a silicon sensor.
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| One of Prof. Kis' assistants working with the prototype sensor |
Like silicon, the mineral molybdenite is naturally abundant and relatively inexpensive.
“Our main goal is to prove that MoS2 [molybdenum disulfide] is an
ideal candidate for this kind of application,” says Kis. “It would make
it possible to take photographs using only starlight.”
Source: EPFL
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