© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
Pixel Photonics GmbH: Award winner 2023/24
"Start-up" category
The Pixel Photonics GmbH from Münster has developed a groundbreaking innovation: the WI-SNSPDs (waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single photon detectors). This technology enables highly efficient detection of light and high scalability.
An innovation that is aimed at and will have a positive impact on many different areas of research. And that is why Pixel Photonics GmbH was a well-deserved winner of the Münsterland 2023/24 Innovation Award in the "Start-up" category.
Groundbreaking technology drives research forward
This technology brings light into the dark! The WI-SNSPDs from Pixel Photonics GmbH combine integrated photonics with state-of-the-art single photon detection.
Or put more simply: The start-up has developed a detector (comparable to an extremely highly sensitive camera) that can be used to detect individual particles of light, known as photons. It becomes particularly innovative when there is a combination of such single photon detectors with very special integrated circuits. This enables highly efficient detection of light and high scalability of the technology.
Where is the innovation needed? The detectors enable, for example, a rapid increase in data rates in global internet data traffic and thus improved communication. In addition, the detection of individual light particles leads to better results in imaging procedures and can lead to better detection and ultimately better treatment of diseases in medical technology. These light detectors can also help in the development of quantum computers or be used in cartography, surveying, microscopy, robotics, encryption technology (or: cryptography) and environmental monitoring.
And these are just a few examples...
