Tiny infrared chip could improve detection of gases and heat

Infrared cameras can be used to spot useful information that our eyes can�t see, such as gases escaping from a pipeline, chemicals in the atmosphere, or heat leaking from a building. But sensing infrared light in sophisticated ways still requires expensive and bulky systems. Now MIT researchers have created a chip-based optical device that can dynamically control incoming infrared light, to act as a tunable lens that gathers additional information for infrared cameras. Each microscopic pixel of the device�s lens can control infrared light independently, allowing it to change its focus and help cameras detect different signals without moving parts. The system is described in a paper published in Nature Communications . The researchers also explain how they built a lab-scale demonstration using mostly conventional manufacturing processes in a semiconductor chip factory, suggesting the approach could be implemented at industrial scales.