Could cameras soon be PAPER THIN? Atom-thick material could be used to create ultra-slim imaging devices

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Could cameras soon be PAPER THIN? Atom-thick material could be used to create ultra-slim imaging devices

Rice University scientists in Texas create ultra-thin imaging device
Called copper indium selenide (CIS) it is just one atom thick
But the material apparently has enormous light detection potential
It could be used to trap electrons and store images
Project’s Sidong Lei says this could allow for 2D imaging devices
This could, ultimately, make digital cameras much thinner
By JONATHAN O’CALLAGHAN FOR MAILONLINE

Your camera could be about to get a lot smaller.
Researchers have succeeded in making one of the key components of cameras, the charge-coupled device (CCD), just one atom thick.
And they say it could be employed in ultra-thin two-dimensional imaging devices in the future.
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Graduate student Sidong Lei displays a three-pixel prototype made with atomically thin layers of copper indium selenide (CIS) . The new material developed at Rice shows promise for two-dimensional electronics, possibly paving the way to extremely thin cameras in the future

Graduate student Sidong Lei displays a three-pixel prototype made with atomically thin layers of copper indium selenide (CIS) . The new material developed at Rice shows promise for two-dimensional electronics, possibly paving the way to extremely thin cameras in the future
The research, carried out by scientists at Rice University in Texas, was published in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.
The two-dimensional three-pixel prototype traps electrons when light hits the material, and holds them until released for storage.
And its composition, namely copper indium selenide (CIS), apparently shows extraordinary promise for light detection.

Many modern digital cameras used an image sensor called a charge-coupled device (CCD).
This fingernail-sized silicon chip contains millions of photosensitive diodes, which capture pixels for the photograph.
The charge of each pixel is then converted into a series of numbers, creating a digital image of what the cameras has seen.
Decreasing the size of the CCD, however, could allow for much smaller cameras to be made.
Sidong Lei, a graduate student involved in the study, said: ‘Traditional CCDs are thick and rigid, and it would not make sense to combine them with 2-D elements.
‘CIS-based CCDs would be ultrathin, transparent and flexible, and are the missing piece for things like 2-D imaging devices.’
Dr Robert Vajtai, a senior faculty fellow in Rice’s Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, said CIS pixels are highly sensitive to light because the trapped electrons dissipate so slowly.
‘There are many two-dimensional materials that can sense light, but none are as efficient as this material,’ he said.
‘This material is 10 times more efficient than the best we’ve seen before.’….MORE HERE

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Could cameras soon be PAPER THIN? Atom-thick material could be used to create ultra-slim imaging devices