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Advanced swept-coded aperture real-time femtophotography camera technology. (Photo: Depositphotos)
JAKARTA – Scientists at the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Center, Canada, made a technological breakthrough by inventing the fastest camera in the world. This camera is capable of recording images at a fantastic speed, namely 156.3 trillion frames per second (fps).
By comparison, the best slow-motion cameras on phones generally only work at a few hundred fps. Professional cinematic cameras might use several thousand fps to achieve smoother effects.
New Atlas, Wednesday (27/3/2024) reported that the capabilities of this new camera far surpass all that. This allows scientists to observe phenomena occurring at the nanoscale in unprecedented detail.
This camera's advanced technology is called “swept-coded aperture real-time femtophotography” (SCARF). Its ability to capture events that take place in femto seconds – quadrillions of seconds. For reference, one second has roughly as many femtoseconds as there are seconds in 32 million years.
SCARF works by firing an ultrashort laser beam that passes through the object or event you want to photograph. These different wavelengths will capture images at different times, allowing the camera to reconstruct the entire event in incredible detail.
While this camera probably won't be used to record slow-motion videos of balloons popping for public consumption, SCARF has great potential to advance various fields of science.
The researchers believe that this camera can help improve understanding of complex physical and chemical phenomena, such as shock waves in materials or the behavior of living cells. SCARF can also open up new opportunities in the medical field, such as the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
(msf)