http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/12/gallery_photodetector "scientists at UCLA have accidentally discovered a material that could make digital cameras as we know them obsolete. Graduate student Hsiang-Yu Chen was working on a new formula for solar cells when something went wrong. Instead of creating electricity when hit with light, the conductivity of the material she was working with changed. "The original purpose [was] to make a solar cell more efficient," says Chen. "However, during the research we found the solar cell phenomenon [had] disappeared." Instead, the test material showed high gain photoconductivity, indicating potential use as a photo sensor. Thanks to this lucky mistake, a new breed of camera sensors that are cheaper, higher-resolution and have lower distortion could be on the horizon" early days, but another potential imaging technology nonetheless k
