Scientists Create CCD at Atomic Scale – Update

Scientists have made a first version of a CCD just a few atomic layers thick. The light-sensitive device is made of copper-indium selenide. A prototype has been made of the CCD that can capture three pixels.

Rice University researchers have created the CCD on the basis of the material copper-indium selenide. The research is co-financed by the NWO. The CCD, which is several atom layers thick, can be used, among other things, to make 2D cameras. For the time being, however, only a prototype is available that has only limited possibilities: three pixels with light information can be recorded. It is not yet clear when a more advanced version will be available.

According to the makers, the copper indium selenide used can capture electrons that are released when light hits the material. The electrons can be held long enough to store the information derived from them. There are more materials that can be fabricated thinly and still hold electrons well, but copper indium selenide is ten times more efficient than what has been observed before, one of the researchers said.

Thin CCDs enable new applications for still cameras. The scientists see opportunities for the medical world, among other things. Because such CCDs are flexible, new camera shapes can also be designed. A similar material, copper-indium-gallium selenide, is already being used for photovoltaic cells, which are used for thin solar panels.

Update: The article mistakenly stated that it was about a CCD of one atomic layer thick. The text has been modified.