Sensor converts pressure to light

Researchers have developed a sensor that converts mechanical pressure - from a signature or a fingerprint - directly into light signals that can be captured and processed optically.

How it works 

Piezoelectric materials generate a charge polarisation when they are placed under strain. Grown atop a gallium nitride (GaN) film, the nanowires create pixeled light emitters whose output varies with the pressure, creating an electroluminescent signal that can be integrated with on-chip photonics for data transmission, processing and recording. Differences in the amount of strain translate to differences in light emitted from the root where the nanowires contact the gallium nitride film. 


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