New light-sensing camera may help detect alien life, dark matter

Researchers have developed one of highest-performance cameras ever, which y say may be useful in search for chemical signs of life on or planets, and in detecting elusive dark matter.

camera developed by researchers at National Institute of Standards and Techlogy (NIST) in US is composed of more than 1,000 sensors, or pixels, that count single photons, or particles of light.

Described in journal Optics Express, camera consists of sensors made from superconducting nawires, which can detect single photons.

y are among best photon counters in terms of speed, efficiency, and range of colour sensitivity, researchers said.

team used se detectors to demonstrate Einstein's "spooky action at a distance," for example.

ory referred to 'quantum entanglement' states that measurement of one particle will instantly influence ar particle, regardless of how far apart y are.

nawire detectors don't count false signals caused by ise rar than photons, according to researchers.

This feature is especially useful for dark-matter searches and -based astromy, researchers said.

camera may be useful in future -based telescopes searching for chemical signs of life on or planets, and in new instruments designed to search for elusive "dark matter" believed to constitute most of "stuff" in universe, y said.

However, cameras with more pixels and larger physical dimensions than previously available are required for se applications.

y also need to detect light with longer wavelengths than currently practical.

camera is small in physical size, a square measuring 1.6 millimetres on a side, but packed with 1,024 sensors (32 columns by 32 rows) to make high-resolution ims.

main challenge was to find a way to collate and obtain results from so many detectors without overheating, researchers said.

"My primary motivation for making camera is NASA's Origins Telescope project, which is looking into using se arrays for analysing chemical composition of planets orbiting stars outside of our solar system," said Varun Verma, an electronics engineer at NIST.

Each chemical element in planet's atmosphere would absorb a unique set of colours, he said.

" idea is to look at absorption spectra of light passing through edge of an exoplanet's atmosphere as it transits in front of its parent star," Verma explained.

" absorption signatures tell you about elements in atmosphere, particularly those that might give rise to life, such as water, oxygen and carbon dioxide," he said.

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