Conventional night vision goggles use a photocathode, a cathode ray tube-like vacuum tube made of thick glass, to convert infrared light photons into electrons which are then accelerated under high voltage and driven into a phosphorous screen producing greenish images of objects invisible to the naked eye in the darkness.
University of Florida scientists have produced an imaging device that replaces the photocathode with several layers of organic semiconductor thin film materials. The photodetector is connected in series with an LED. Infrared light photons are converted into electrons in the photodetector which are then injected into the LED which generates visible light. This imaging device would be light-weight and inexpensive to produce since it could be made using the same equipment currently used to produce laptop screens and flat-screen TVs. This new night-vision technology could be used on mobile phones, car windshields, even standard glasses.
Do Young Kim, Dong Woo Song, Neetu Chopra, Pieter De Somer, Franky So. Organic Infrared Upconversion Device. Advanced Materials, 2010; DOI: 10.1002/adma.200903312
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