Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Keio University have developed what is claimed to be the world's fastest camera. The Wall Street Journal reports that this newly developed camera is "1,000 times faster than existing high-speed cameras". The camera is capable of burst image photography which captures images at a rate of 4.4 trillion frames per second with an image size of 450 x 450 pixels.
The camera uses a new technology called Sequentially Timed All-optical Mapping Photography, or STAMP for short. This technology has been in development for three years leading up to this announcement. It uses an optical shutter to help achieve the 1,000x speed hike over the alternative mechanical and electronic shutter technologies.
High speed cameras are used in science and industry to visualise and analyse events that can't otherwise be observed. The scientists believe the STAMP camera will be of great utility in the fields of photochemistry, spintronics, phononics, fluidics, and plasma physics. For instance, the researchers successfully photographed the conduction of heat which is transmitted at a speed of one sixth of the speed of light, says the WSJ. More practical uses outside science research labs include the possible application in semiconductor and car manufacturing and in the field of medicine.
Prof. Keisuke Goda, a member of the research team at the University of Tokyo, said that the camera will now be refined with the aim of reducing the camera's bulk. Currently the camera is about a square metre in size – a smaller camera will find more practical uses.
