Cheap material could make night vision a staple in devices

The University of Florida with some funding from DARPA have managed to uncover a new film-thin material which will be able to introduce cheap and lightweight night vision to virtually anything and everything, ranging from gadgets to digital cameras and even car windshields – of course, night vision on a car windshield isn’t such a good idea unless you’re on a one-way street. Using similar technology in OLED displays, this new material relies on seven layers that are excited by infrared light, generating electricity charges that are amplified by the next layer, resulting in total darkness being transformed into a clear view. The prototype can only cover one square cm at point of publishing, but it should be able to be scaled up in due time.