Single Photon Detection Array of Nanowires Will Make Supertelescopes | NextBigFuture.com

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made one of the highest-performance cameras ever composed of sensors that count single photons, or particles of light. With more than 1,000 sensors, or pixels, NIST’s camera may be useful in future space-based telescopes searching for chemical signs of life on other planets, and in new instruments designed to search for the elusive “dark matter” believed to constitute most of the “stuff” in the universe. Described in Optics Express, the camera consists of sensors made from superconducting nanowires, which can detect single photons. They are among the best photon