Cash boost for digital camera study
Updated on 02 January 2009
Scots scientists have been awarded almost half a million pounds to investigate ways of improving the quality of digital camera images.
They aim to develop hi-tech microchips for cameras and other imaging equipment that will produce sharper, more colourful pictures.
The project, expected to last three and a half years, is being funded through a £489,234 grant from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council and is supported by Sharp Laboratories Europe and Oxford University.
The research team is led by Professor David Cumming and Dr Tim Drysdale of the University of Glasgow.
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."
The researchers will draw on a phenomenon called plasmon resonance, which refers to an interaction produced when light waves fall on a metal surface. Plasmons modify the way light is distributed around the metal.
A thin metal film used on microchip image sensors (known as CMOS - complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) in digital cameras detect light waves and convert them into digital signals. The CMOS then measures the light and assigns it a digital value which is then used to build up the bigger picture.
Researchers now hope to find a way of creating patterns or small nanostructures in the metal film on the CMOS. This will increase the sensitivity of the sensor and result in higher quality images.
It should also be possible to 'tune' the resonating plasmons into the same frequency as various colours of light, which would improve colour discrimination in images.
Professor Cumming said: "We'll be using the extensive nanotechnology expertise at the university to manipulate particles on the nanoscale. It involves taking advantage of the properties of electrons to create a whole new optical effect."
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