Phlux Technology, an off-shoot of the University, has received £4 million worth of funding from investors such as Octopus Ventures and Northern Gritstone to develop a revolutionary type of infrared sensor.
It’s made of antimony- a silvery-white metal found in the Earth’s crust- instead of the commonly-used silicon. That results in a product that is 10 times as sensitive and with 50% more range compared to any current sensor. In turn, far less of them are needed, making it cheaper and more efficient in new inventions like self-driving cars.
CEO of Phlux Technology Ben White said: “Our challenge was to drive down cost and make it accessible to the mass market. What we wanted to see was this to reach a price point where it can be enrolled on a mass scale into every car to really improve road safety. With this investment, I’d like to think that we’re waving the flag for Northern universities and blazing a trail for people to follow.”
Infrared sensors are all around us and we use them every day in our daily lives. How your TV remote connects to the TV, and how your PC transfers data to the internet.
They are also vital to the success of self-driving cars. Infrared sensors are already used for automated lane keeping and emergency stopping. The new material is more efficient, operating in a similar way to how bats can fly in complete darkness. They use sounds, cars do the same with infrared light.
Thanks to the University of Sheffield and their breakthrough, we are one step closer to the realisation of fully functioning self-driving cars.
Universities in the North of England are finally having their world-class research globally recognised and it’s certainly a huge win for Sheffield-based engineers.
Mr White said: “The investment is usually very concentrated in what’s called the ‘golden triangle’, which is Cambridge, Oxford, and Imperial College London. It’s great to see there’s a belief now in the other universities around the country, that we can do this too and we can create world-class businesses from the world-class science that goes on here.”
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