Best Ultra Fast camera touches transparent objects at 1 trillion fps

Ultrafast Camera

10 trillion frames per second camera!

Caltech scientists have invented an ultrafast camera capable of taking 1 trillion frames per second of transparent objects. The invention was so rapid after the university made a camera that it could capture light at a slow rate nearly a decade ago. The camera is called phase-sensitive compressed ultrafast photography, or pCUP.

The camera is so fast that it can not only take video of transparent objects, but it can also take pictures of short-term subjects such as shockwaves and possibly signals that travel through neurons. The new system combines high-speed photography that was previously developed with phase-contrast microscopy.

The world's fastest camera!

That type of microscopy was designed to allow better imaging, like cells of mostly transparent objects. The fast imaging part of the system uses a lossless encoding compressed ultrafast technique called LLE-CUP. The technique takes a single shot and captures all the motion that occurs during the time that the shot is completed.

Since it only takes a single shot, the LLE-CUP is capable of capturing speeds similar to the speed of light which is much faster by conventional technology. In testing, the team used the technique to demonstrate pCUP by imaging the diffusion of a shockwave through a piece of crystalline material through water and a laser pulse.

Ultrafast camera records speed light!

The technique is in its early stages, but may prove useful in many fields, including physics, biology, or chemistry. The technique can allow scientists to see the communication of neurons in real time. The technique can also enable scientists to see how a flame propagates in a combustion chamber. The technology continues to develop and is funded by the National Institutes of Health.