Ultra-thin infrared filter, thinner than cling wrap, revolutionizes night vision

Nanowerk  June 3, 2024 The ability to detect and image short-wave infrared light has important applications in surveillance, autonomous navigation, and biological imaging. However, the current infrared imaging technologies often pose challenges due to large footprint, large thermal noise and inability to augment infrared and visible imaging. An international team of researchers (Australia, Germany) demonstrated infrared imaging by nonlinear up-conversion to the visible in an ultra-compact, high-quality-factor lithium niobate resonant metasurface. Despite the strong nonlocality of the metasurface they obtained images with high conversion efficiency and resolution quality. They showed the possibility of edge-detection image processing augmented with direct up-conversion […]

Toward Nanoparticle “Night-Vision Goggles”

Optics and Photonics  March 1, 2019 Researchers in China developed ocular injectable photoreceptor-binding upconversion nanoparticles (pbUCNPs). These nanoparticles anchored on retinal photoreceptors serve as miniature NIR light transducers to create NIR light image vision with negligible side effects. In tests they demonstrated that mice with these nanoantennae could not only perceive NIR light, but also see NIR light patterns. According to the researchers the research could be a potential alternative to night-vision goggles, the treatment could help repair certain vision problems and eye diseases…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE