Scientists have produced a sensor that converts light into an electrical signal at an astonishing 200 percent efficiency – a seemingly impossible figure that was achieved through the weirdness of quantum physics.
Such is the sensitivity of the device known as a photodiode, the team responsible for its innovation says it could potentially be used in technology that monitors a person's vital signs without anything needing to be inserted or even attached to the body.
"What counts in the world of photodiodes is quantum efficiency. Instead of the total amount of solar energy, it counts the number of photons that the diode converts into electrons." The key might be the way photodiodes produce a current. Photons excite electrons in the photodiode material, causing them to migrate and create a build-up of charge. The researchers hypothesize that the green light might release electrons on one layer, which are converted into current only when photons strike a different layer.
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