The proposed SeeDevice image sensor is called PAT-PD (Photon Assisted Tunneling-Photo Detector) or, in Russian, photon tunneling photodetector. The PAT-PD sensor “virtually eliminates photon leakage”, which promises to capture images in the visible area with minimal illumination. Below you can compare the image under lighting conditions of 0.1 lux (moonless night) on a DSLR camera with a 24.2MP sensor and on a PAT-PD sensor. The image from the latter clearly outperforms the image taken with a stock camera.

But PAT-PD sensors can prove themselves not only as a tool for “photos in instu”. The prospect opens before them both in the field of image sensors for autopilots and among medical sensors. PAT-PD sensors are capable of tuning to a given photon detection wavelength. For example, they can detect the composition of blood in blood vessels through the skin and detect levels of cholesterol, glucose, or other substances.