The Disappearing Capacitor

As part of a phosphorescence detector, [lcamtuf] has been working with photodiodes. The components, like all diodes, have some capacitance at the junction, and this can limit performance. That&#821…

Homebrew Phosphorescence Detector Looks For The Glow In Everyday Objects

Spoiler alert: almond butter isn’t phosphorescent. But powdered milk is, at least to the limit of detection of this homebrew phosphorescence detector. Why spend a bunch of time and money on s…

You Can Use LEDs As Sensors, Too

LEDs are a wonderful technology. You put in a little bit of power, and you get out a wonderful amount of light. They’re efficient, cheap, and plentiful. We use them for so much! What you migh…

Particle Physics On A Small, Affordable PCB

Experimenting in the world of particle physics probably brings to mind large, expensive pieces of equipment like particle accelerators, or at least exotic elements or isotopes that most of us can&#…

The Photodiode You Never Knew You Had

Optoelectronics hold a range of possibilities for the hardware experimenter — indeed who among us hasn’t added LEDs aplenty to our work? What many of us may be unaware of though is that…

Beautiful Engineering In This Laser Unit From A Tornado Jet Fighter

Those of use hailing from the UK may be quite familiar with the Royal Air Force’s Tornado fighter jet, which was designed to fight in a theoretical nuclear war, and served the country for ove…

IR Translator Makes Truly Universal Remote

Universal remotes are a handy tool to have around if you have many devices that would all otherwise have their own remote controls. Merging them all into a single device leads to less clutter and l…

A Trio Of Photodiodes Make A Radiation Detector

The instinctive reaction when measuring nuclear radiation is to think of a Geiger counter, as the low-pressure gas tube detectors have entered our popular culture through the Cold War. A G-M tube i…