Coming Soon: Point-And-Shoot Cameras That Take Crystal-Clear Pics in Low Light

For those who long to capture the incidental images in life that often occur in low-light situations, but, unlike professional photographers, don't have the desire or ability to lug around a high end, ultra-sensitive camera and assortment of lenses all the time --- blurry shots may soon be a thing of the past.

Researchers at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University are working on a technology that will give point-and-shoot cameras the same low light sensitivity only available in today's most expensive models.

Led by Assistant Professor Qijie Wang, from NTU's School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, the research team has developed a graphene sensor that is 1000 times more sensitive to light than current imaging sensors used in today's digital cameras. Yet, it uses only one-tenth the energy needed in a typical model.

For that reason, Wang and his colleagues believe their device can be successfully mass-produced.

"We have shown that it is now possible to create cheap, sensitive and flexible photo sensors from graphene alone," said Wang  in a press release. "We expect our innovation will have great impact not only on the consumer imaging industry, but also in satellite imaging and communication industries, as well as the mid-infrared applications."

Graphene, a thin, durable and highly flexible layer of carbon-based graphite, is able to absorb light over a broad wavelength range and, as demonstrated by the research team in Singapore, offer photographers a thousand-fold improvement in light sensitivity to today's current devices.

Wang said the promised clarity of his team's breakthrough technology may already sound too good to be true, but the underlying technology of the graphene sensor has even more room for improvement.

The performance of our graphene sensor, such as in the system's response speed, "can be further improved...through nanostructure engineering," Wang said. "Preliminary results already verified the feasibility of our concept."