Posted in | News | Light / Image Sensor

Image Sensor from SeeDevice with Breakthrough Light Capture

The SeeDevice sensor can capture blood vessels through the skin. Image Credit: SeeDevice

Using a quirk of quantum mechanics, a new device promises to provide a massive boost to camera technology. The breakthrough could have applications in areas as wide-ranging and diverse as self-driving vehicles and biomedical scanners. 

Smartphone cameras have come a very long way. Just a few short years ago, even amateur photographers would have scoffed at the idea of taking professional stock images on a smartphone. But, despite this advancement, smartphone cameras face a bottle-neck in the future. 

Better images mean capturing more photons — the fundamental particles of light — and capturing more photons means detectors with a larger surface area and increased thickness. Something that could significantly impact the thin, compact design of smartphones.

New technology could help developers avoid this trade-off, however. SeeDevice’s Photon Assisted Tunneling Photo Detector (PAT-PD) utilizes one of quantum physics’ most counter-intuitive aspects to eliminate so-called ‘photon-leakage’ and provide a sensor that trumps current DSLR sensors in terms of absorption. The benefits provided by PAT-PD technology include the reduction of motion-blur, increased efficiency in low-light, infrared capabilities, and an increased range. 

Whilst SeeDevice says that this technology is well-suited to smartphone applications — the improved capture of photons reduces the need for a larger capture-area — the benefits it provides also suggest adaptability to a wide range of diverse areas. Seeing further and clearer is a massive boon to sensors associated with self-driving vehicles, allowing dangers and hazards lying ahead in the road to be spotted more quickly affording onboard AI more time to assess risk and calculate a mitigation strategy. 

Meanwhile, the massively improved photon capture allows PAT-PD equipped biomedical scanners to see beneath a patient’s skin, tracing blood vessels.

Depending on the wavelength we tune to we can detect anything from glucose levels, fat/cholesterol levels, heart rate, and even alcohol level.

Mark Shedd, VP of Marketing, SeeDevice

Dig This! Using Quantum Tunnelling to Build a Better Image

The phenomenon exploited by the PAT-PD is a quantum behavior that perfectly exemplifies how physical phenomena vary from micro to macro scales — quantum tunneling. What this phenomenon allows is for a particle to be found in an area that would be ‘classically forbidden’ to it. This usually means in a region that it does not have enough energy to reach.

Whilst the chances of a photon achieving this ‘barrier penetration’ is statistically extremely small, the sheer number of photons involved in the capture of an image means that a large sample will still exhibit this behavior. 

This relates to PAT-PD as quantum tunneling means that an electron signal can be kick-started with far fewer photons. This provides a huge advantage in low-light conditions where fewer photons are available to build an image. 

Quantum tunneling also means that photons with less associated energy can also trigger an electron signal that starts to build an image. This means that PAT-PD sensors — created with standard silicon — can create an image with infrared light— consisting of low-frequency, long-wavelength, low-energy photons.

Low-light Highlights

Although not currently available commercially, SeeDevice has signed a licensing agreement with MegaChips to integrate its tech into their products. Other extreme low-light image capture technology does exist to provide an alternative to PAT-PD sensors and is available on the market.

SIONYX, for example, offers a range of Aurora cameras that provide color images in extreme low-light conditions. The company uses a modified type of silicon known as black silicon which exhibits low-reflectivity and high-absorption of photons to create sensors that can register infrared light effectively. The Aurora range — marketed as the first full-color digital night-vision cameras — has proved particularly useful in leisure activities like hunting, and in night-time search and rescue operations.

Additionally, other systems currently exist that can identify objects effectively in low-light conditions despite not offering an improvement in actual image production.

However, taking SeeDevice’s claims at face value, it would seem that when their PAT-PD tech becomes commercially available in the near future, it could outperform these systems, even leap-frogging black-silicon in terms of its light-capturing ability. It seems like the future is bright for smartphone cameras. 

Sources and Further Reading

PAT-PD, [2020], SeeDevice, [https://seedevice.com/]

SIONYX, [2020], [https://www.sionyx.com/]

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.

Robert Lea

Written by

Robert Lea

Robert is a Freelance Science Journalist with a STEM BSc. He specializes in Physics, Space, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Quantum Physics, and SciComm. Robert is an ABSW member, and aWCSJ 2019 and IOP Fellow.

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Lea, Robert. (2022, November 08). Image Sensor from SeeDevice with Breakthrough Light Capture. AZoSensors. Retrieved on November 04, 2024 from https://www.azosensors.com/news.aspx?newsID=14063.

  • MLA

    Lea, Robert. "Image Sensor from SeeDevice with Breakthrough Light Capture". AZoSensors. 04 November 2024. <https://www.azosensors.com/news.aspx?newsID=14063>.

  • Chicago

    Lea, Robert. "Image Sensor from SeeDevice with Breakthrough Light Capture". AZoSensors. https://www.azosensors.com/news.aspx?newsID=14063. (accessed November 04, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Lea, Robert. 2022. Image Sensor from SeeDevice with Breakthrough Light Capture. AZoSensors, viewed 04 November 2024, https://www.azosensors.com/news.aspx?newsID=14063.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a review, update or anything you would like to add to this news story?

Leave your feedback
Your comment type
Submit

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.