University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed flexible photodetectors consisting of 250 nm thick single-crystal germanium membranes transferred onto 175 µm thick PET substrates using a dry printing technique. This could allow distortion-free photos without the need for fancy lenses.
Inspired by the human eye, Ma’s curved photodetector could eliminate that distortion. In the eye, light enters though a single lens, but at the back of the eye, the image falls upon the curved retina, eliminating distortion. “If you can make a curved imaging plane, you just need one lens,” says Ma. “That’s why this development is extremely important.”
Ma and his group can create curved photodetectors with specially fabricated nanomembranes — extremely thin, flexible sheets of germanium, a very light-sensitive material often used in high-end imaging sensors. Researchers then can apply the nanomembranes to any polymer substrate, such as a thin, flexible piece of plastic. Currently, the group has demonstrated photodetectors curved in one direction, but Ma hopes next to develop hemispherical sensors.
The work has been published in Applied Physics Letters: Flexible photodetectors on plastic substrates by use of printing transferred single-crystal germanium membranes.
[via The Register]
