Tiny infrared chip could improve detection of gases and heat | MIT Ne…

MIT researchers have developed a chip-based infrared lens using phase-change metasurfaces with pixel-level control, enabling tunable infrared cameras for gas detection, thermal imaging, and chemical sensing without moving parts. The crossbar architecture scales to millions of pixels using conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes. If you're building thermal cameras, gas sensors, or night vision systems, the bottleneck—a bulky, expensive infrared lens—just became a semiconductor chip. The crossbar design proven here scales to millions of pixels on standard fab equipment, which means your sensor can be small, tunable, and cheap to manufacture within 18 months.