The sensors of digital smartphones and cameras are already producing impressive images. But a Swiss technological advance could further push the limits of image quality. At the heart of this innovation, the use of a new material: perovskite.
Today, the majority of image sensors are made from silicon. Their functioning is based on a principle similar to that of human retina: they detect fundamental colors – red, green and blue – in light, before converting them into electrical signals.
However, these sensors fail to exploit all the available light, which causes a loss of precision in colors and details.
A three -time resolution
To remedy these limits, researchers from the Federal Laboratory for Testing Materials and Research (EMPA) and the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (EPFZ) offer an alternative: sensors based on Pérovskite lead halogenure, a semiconductor crystalline material.
Easier to treat than silicon, perovskite has modular physical properties according to its chemical composition. Image sensors designed from this material would be able, in theory, to capture three times more light than conventional sensors, while providing resolution up to three times better.
Beyond photography, this technology opens up new perspectives in various fields such as artificial vision, medical imaging or automated monitoring of agriculture and the environment.
Foued Boukari/ther
