Russian "snake-eye vision" camera can see through obstacles
Science and Technology Daily, Moscow, August 2 (Reporter Dong Yingbi) The "Sensory Science" Center of the National Technology Initiative of the Moscow State Institute of Electronic Technology has developed a heterostructure-based infrared photodetector module (InGaAs) technology. Using this technology, the camera can "see" the infrared region like snakes and mosquitoes, so it is vividly called "snake eye vision" technology.
Vladimir Egorkin, associate professor of the Department of Quantum Physics and Nanoelectronics at the Moscow State Institute of Electronic Technology, said that because the prey is in sharp contrast with the cold background, the eyes of animals such as snakes, mosquitoes and fish can keep them in the dark or The prey was successfully captured in the cold waters. The "Snake Eye Vision" technology camera, an infrared photodetector module based on a heterogeneous structure developed by the "Sensory Science" Center of the Academy, can identify objects even through opaque obstacles under foggy and dusty conditions.
According to the researchers, one of the main advantages of using a detector in the infrared region is that Rayleigh scattering is much smaller in the long-wave portion compared to the visible portion of the spectrum. Therefore, a camera that works in the short-wave infrared range can penetrate dust or fog better than a camera that works in the visible light range.
Vladimir Egorkin said that the silicon-based photodetector technology has been popularized globally, but its functionality is not as good as the heterostructure photodetector of indium gallium arsenide compound based on indium phosphide substrate. The heterostructure substrate is composed of thin films that grow layer by layer. In this case, the size of a pixel is about 20 microns, and the detector's working range is 0.9-1.7 microns, which greatly increases the detection range. He also said that in addition to night vision, cameras based on this "snake-eye vision" technology can also be used to analyze defects in semiconductors and microelectronics, and used in optical non-invasive coherent tomography in the medical field.