A new light sensor breakthrough could change the way electronic devices such as digital cameras operate.
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a new light sensor that takes advantage of the multi-exciton generation (MEG) phenomenon.
In existing digital cameras, the efficiency of solar sells is lowered with the result of limiting the sensitivity of digital cameras, meaning that images become grainy when viewing dimly lit scenes.
The scientists have managed, for the first time, to collect an electrical current from a device using MEG, which could revolutionise camera design.
Professor Ted Sargent described the results, which have appeared in the journal Science.
He said: "Digital cameras are now universal but they suffer from a major limitation: they take poor pictures under dim light.
"One reason for this is that the image sensor chips inside cameras collect, at most, one electron's worth of current for every photon (particle of light) that strikes the pixel."
He added that MEG breaks conventional rules that bind traditional semi-conductor devices.