Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bionic Eye
A new invention idea using quantum dots can improve vision by stimulating the
retina to respond to light.
As our population ages, impaired vision caused by damaged retinas has increased.
Jeffrey Olsen, of the University of Colorado Hospital, has invented light amplifying
"quantum" dots. This use of nanotechnology increases the light received by the
retina so that images are brighter.
The "quantum" dots fluoresce when hit by photons so the images are more visible
to functioning light sensitive cells.
The dots act as semiconductors and are implanted into the retina. They are much
smaller than silicon chips.
Solar Foil
Anil Sethi, chief executive of the Swiss company Flison, holds a dark polymer foil.
It's a paper-thin foil 200 times lighter than glass solar material. So light, it can be
stuck to the sides of a building. So light, it can be mass-produced in rolls like
packaging material.
This is solar film. This new invention idea is made from a semiconductor compound
that is embedded into polymer foil. A compound that absorbs light by freeing
electrons, which can generate electricity for heating, lighting and air-conditioning.