Category Technology/Electronics

Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes can compete with Silicon devices

Georgia Tech principal research scientist Canek Fuentes-Hernandez holds rigid and flexible large-area organic photodiodes whose performance is comparable to that of silicon-based photodiodes. (Credit: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Georgia Tech)

The performance of flexible large-area organic photodiodes has advanced to the point that they can now offer advantages over conventional silicon photodiode technology, particularly for applications such as biomedical imaging and biometric monitoring that require detecting low levels of light across large areas.

The low-noise, solution-processed, flexible organic devices offer the ability to use arbitrarily shaped, large-area photodiodes to replace complex arrays that would be required with conventional silicon photodiodes, which can be expensive ...

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Research lays groundwork for Ultra-Thin, Energy Efficient Photodetector on Glass

A colorful graphic depiction of a photodetector on glass.
This graphic depicts molybdenum disulfide growth on Gorilla glass, the process that turns normal glass into a photodetector.
 IMAGE: JENNIFER M. MCMANN – PENN STATE MATERIALS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Though we may not always realize it, photodetectors contribute greatly to the convenience of modern life. Also known as photosensors, photodetectors convert light energy into electrical signals to complete tasks such as opening automatic sliding doors and automatically adjusting a cellphone’s screen brightness in different lighting conditions.

A new paper, published by a team of Penn State researchers in ACS Nano, seeks to further advance photodetectors’ use by integrating the technology with durable Gorilla glass, the material used for smart phone screens that is manufactured by Corning Incor...

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Implantable Device can Monitor and Treat Heart Disease

Yu cardiac patch
Cunjiang Yu, Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UH, led a group of researchers that developed a cardiac patch made from fully rubbery electronics that can be placed directly on the heart to collect electrophysiological activity, temperature, heartbeat and other indicators, all at the same time.

Researchers reported developing a cardiac patch made from fully rubbery electronics that can be placed directly on the heart to collect electrophysiological activity, temperature, heartbeat and other indicators, all at the same time.

Pacemakers and other implantable cardiac devices used to monitor and treat arrhythmias and other heart problems have generally had one of two drawbacks — they are made with rigid materials that can’t move to accommodate a beating heart,...

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Smart Tablecloth can Find Fruit and Help with Watering the Plants Interactive fabric senses everyday non-metallic objects

Avocado, grapefruit on a smart tablecloth
The Capacitivo smart fabric can identify fruit and find lost objects. Overall, the system achieved a 94.5% accuracy in testing. Figure courtesy of XDiscovery Lab.

Researchers have designed a smart fabric that can detect non-metallic objects ranging from avocadoes to credit cards, according to a study from Dartmouth College and Microsoft Research. The fabric, named Capacitivo, senses shifts in electrical charge to identify items of varying shapes and sizes.

A study and demonstration video describing the sensing system were presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2020).

“This research has the potential to change the way people interact with computing through everyday soft objects made of fabrics,” said Xing-Dong Yang, an assistant professor of...

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