An OLED for compact, lightweight night vision
Thinner than a human hair, the device amplifies and converts near infrared light into visible light with the potential for low power consumption and long battery life
A new type of OLED (organic light emitting diode) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to University of Michigan researchers.
A memory effect in the OLEDs could also lead to computer vision systems that both sense and interpret incoming light signals and images.
Current night vision systems rely on image intensifiers that convert incoming near-infrared light into electrons, which then accelerate through a vacuum into a thin disc containing hundreds of tiny channels. As they pass through and collide with the channel walls, the electrons release thousands of additional electrons and go on to strike a phosphor screen, which converts them into visible light. The incoming light is amplified by 10,000 times in this process, allowing the wearer to see at night.
The newly developed OLED device also converts near infrared light into visible light and amplifies it more than 100 times, but without the weight, high voltage and cumbersome vacuum layer required for traditional image intensifiers. The researchers say much higher amplification is possible by optimizing the design of the device.
“One of the most attractive features of this new approach is that it amplifies light within a thin film stack that is less than a micron thick. That’s much thinner than a strand of hair, which is about 50 microns thick,” said Chris Giebink, U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics and corresponding author of the study recently published in Nature Photonics …. read more
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