Scottish scientists are attempting to improve digital camera technology by using the latest developments in nanotechnology to produce images that are clearer and more colourful.
Scottish scientists are attempting to improve digital camera technology by using the latest developments in nanotechnology to produce images that are clearer and more colourful.
A team of researchers at Glasgow University have been given nearly half a million pounds to create tiny molecular structures on the surface of light-detecting image sensors at the heart of digital cameras. These would alter how the sensors process light into digital information, potentially opening up a new front in the rapidly developing field.
Over the past decade, digital technology has undergone rapid progress, not only replacing film for a generation of amateur snappers but also all but eclipsing the traditional format among professional photographers.
Photography experts hailed the latest research project as an "exciting" development that could lead to new and unexpected results.
The Glasgow team, led by Professor David Cumming and Dr Tim Drysdale, from the university's department of electronics and electrical engineering, have been given £489,234 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, supported by Sharp Laboratories Europe and Oxford University, for the project, which is expected to conclude in 2012.
Professor Cumming said: "Digital imaging has come a long way in recent years and this project aims to further improve the ability of digital devices to produce high-quality pictures. This technology has a wide range of potential applications, for example cameras, televisions, spectrometers and medical sensors.
"We'll be using the extensive nanotechnology expertise at the university to manipulate particles on the nanoscale."
The team hope to exploit a phenomenon known as surface plasmon resonance (SPO), which occurs when light falls on metal, causing electrons on the surface to absorb the energy of the light waves and start vibrating in groups.
By creating molecular-level structures on the surface of the thin metal plate at the front of CMOS image sensors it is hoped these vibrations can be utilised, increasing the sensitivity of the sensor and so producing higher-quality images.
The process could also provide a novel technical solution to the complex problem of how to convert colour into digital information.
At the moment, CMOS image sensors are effectively "colour-blind" as they do not distinguish between light of different wavelengths. Instead, they rely on placing filters over the photosensitive units that are exposed to light to separate out different colours.
However, the Glasgow team hopes to "tune" the SPO vibrations to the same frequency as different colours of light, and so improve colour discrimination.
The technology could also be applied to spectrometers, which measure wavelengths in light and are generally used for identifying materials by picking out different light signatures.
The research was welcomed by Ian Farrell, editor of Professional Photographer magazine, who said: "It sounds quite exciting. Any science that looks at the foundations of how digital photography works is interesting because you know that companies will put money into developing it.
Mr Farrell said that, while there had not been a particular switchover moment when digital cameras overtook film, more and more professional photographers had experienced a "digital epiphany".
He said: "You'll never replace it because some photographers simply prefer to work with film. But with medium format cameras offering up to 50 or 60 megapixels, the days of digital not being able to compete on image quality are long gone."
