Chinese researchers have developed a compact chip inspired by the eyes of desert ants, designed to detect the orientation of polarized light.

The chip utilizes perovskites, materials known for their exceptional optoelectronic properties, making them ideal for applications in solar cells, LEDs, and lasers.

To create this innovative device, the researchers employed a novel one-step nanoimprinting crystallization technique, allowing for the fabrication of a high-quality perovskite single-crystal-thin film with integrated grating arrays.

Traditional commercial polarized photodetectors are typically large and complex due to their reliance on intricate optical components, which presents significant challenges for miniaturization.

The new polarization photodetector (pol-PD) enhances image quality by detecting the orientation of polarized light, thereby improving contrast differentiation.

This chip has promising applications in various fields, including navigation, fingerprint detection, cancer tissue identification, and image de-hazing.

The research was a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beihang University, and Imperial College London, with findings published in the journal Science Advances.

In their paper published on December 4, 2024, the research team emphasized the widespread uses of these photodetectors in geological remote sensing, machine vision, and biological medicine.

The research draws inspiration from the compound eyes of insects and crustaceans, which consist of many small photoreceptor units, contrasting with the single eye unit in humans.

Desert ants, known for their ability to perceive the polarization of sunlight, utilize this skill to navigate in featureless landscapes.

The study was led by bio-inspired materials expert Prof. Li Mingzhu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighting the integration of biology and technology in this groundbreaking research.

This fabrication method enables the construction of a single-shot polarization detector directly on the chip, eliminating the need for external optics.