Ultraviolet receptive camera

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ajt
 
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Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:19 pm

Ultraviolet receptive camera

Post by ajt »

Dear Adafruit,

Do any Raspberry pi camera modules you carry allow light in the UV spectrum to pass through?

Thinking about doing a UV photo project like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviole ... hotography

Cheers

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Ultraviolet receptive camera

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

I don't know for sure, but I doubt it.

The photoelectric effect depends on the amount of energy it takes to knock electrons in a semiconductor from one set of orbitals to another. The photons most likely to get a response are the ones closest to the 'bandgap voltage' for that particular material.

The natural bandgap voltage for silicon is in the low-infrared range (about 1.2 electron volts). Most CCD cameras have infrared filters to keep that set of wavelengths from swamping out the input from wavelengths humans can see. The energy levels of the UV spectrum are so far away (3eV to 6eV) that the response to UV will be pretty low.

The lens could be a problem too. Most glass absorbs UV, even without a UV filter.

The best I can say is that they aren't designed to be responsive at UV frequencies.

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ajt
 
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Re: Ultraviolet receptive camera

Post by ajt »

Thank you for the in depth response and have a great day!

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