Organic semiconductors have been harnessed to build an ultra-lightweight camera sensor, paving the way for the development of sensors that are both flexible and highly light-sensitive.

Some digital cameras rely on a charge-coupled device (CCD) to convert light into electrical charges; this process allows an image to be recorded digitally. Today’s CCDs are made from inorganic semiconductors, which are inflexible. Organic semiconductors — made from carbon-rich compounds — can be bendable, but don’t carry electrical charges far or fast enough to serve in cameras.

Now Stephen Forrest and his colleagues at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have created an organic CCD that transports packets of electrons along almost 2 centimetres of organic semiconductor to a terminal, where the signal can be read in milliseconds. The device has a ‘guard electrode’ that uses varying voltages to confine the electrons to a specific pathway. The guard electrode also uses electrical repulsion to push the electrons to their destination.

Organic CCDs’ low weight and ability to withstand cosmic radiation make them attractive for use in space, the authors say.