Researchers from the University of Michigan have created a tiny infrared light detector that can pave the way for night-vision contact lenses, which can work even at room temperature.
A professor from the university, Zhaihui Zhong said that the design is so thin that it can be stacked on a contact lens or integrated with a mobile phone. And unlike infrared detectors available in the market today, it does not need cooling equipment to work.
The researchers used graphene, which is a single layer of carbon atoms that can sense the whole infrared spectrum. However, it only absorbs about 2per cent of the light that hits it.
Prof Zhong said: "The challenge for the current generation of graphene-based detectors is that their sensitivity is typically very poor.
"It's a hundred to a thousand times lower than what a commercial device would require."
"If we integrate it with a contact lens or other wearable electronics, it expands your vision.
"It provides you another way of interacting with your environment."
