Abstract
ACCORDING to a report from its New York correspondent in the issue of January 4 of The Times, an electron tube device which is sensitive to both visible and invisible light was demonstrated on January 2 before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, by Drs. V. K. Zworykin and G. A. Morton. The device comprises an electron image tube of high overall magnification (compare NATURE, Jan. 4, p. 36) fitted with a fluorescent screen which acts as an artificial retina. The cathode emitter of this tube is operated directly by the incident light, which need not be in the visible range, since it is sensitive to radiation over the whole spectrum between 1,800 A. and 13,000 A. Thus the image which becomes visible on the fluorescent screen may be the result of incident radiation in either the ultra-violet or the infra-red portions of the spectrum. It would therefore appear that this electrical eye will literally enable us to see in the dark. If the further development of the device is successful, it is likely to be of considerable service in various branches of pure and applied science. It may, for example, provide the solution to the problem of navigation in fog on land and sea and in the air, while in astronomical and biological work, the use of infra-red radiation may reveal much that is not readily to be seen by visible light.
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A New Electrical Eye. Nature 137, 60 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137060a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137060a0