MIT Researchers Develop Tiny Infrared Chip for Enhanced Gas and Heat Detection

MIT researchers have created a chip-based optical device that can dynamically control incoming infrared light, acting as a tunable lens for infrared cameras. This innovation allows each microscopic pixel of the device's lens to independently control infrared light, enabling cameras to detect different signals without moving parts. The technology, described in *Nature Communications*, could lead to more precise thermal imaging, chemical sensing, and pollution monitoring, and was developed using conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes.