States, Especially GOP-Controlled Ones, Facing Crucial Decisions ...

Stateline: Obama Win Means Big Health Care Decision For States
Since the day it was enacted, many of the Affordable Care Act?s opponents have preferred to treat it as provisional.?... there remain some significant uncertainties in the immediate future of the ACA, particularly in how Republican governors, who have vociferously opposed the law until now, will react in the wake of President Obama?s victory. The ACA is indeed the law of the land and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but that doesn?t mean that Republican governors have to be full participants (Vestal and Ollove, 11/8).

The Hill: Analysis: 20 States Will Run Their Health-Law Exchanges
Twenty states will operate their own insurance exchanges in 2014 under President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new analysis. Avalere Health released its estimate after Obama won a second term on Tuesday, ... Governors have a choice as to whether to implement the law's exchanges or leave the task to the federal government. A third option is a "partnership" model in which the state and federal government jointly manage the marketplace (Viebeck, 11/7).

Politico: States Face Swift Deadline On Health Exchanges
By Nov. 16, states must tell the Obama administration whether they plan to run at least part of their own health insurance exchanges, new state-based marketplaces that will provide subsidies for low- and middle-income individuals and small businesses to purchase coverage. Eventually, states also will have to decide whether they?ll accept a larger expansion of Medicaid, which comes with a generous match from the federal government but still requires states to pony up some of their own money (Millman 11/8).

Kaiser Health News: State Political Shifts Likely To Affect Health Law
Republicans will have 30 governors and control 24 state legislatures next year, compared to 19 Democratic governors? and 18 Democratic-controlled legislatures. The rest are split or tied. The Medicaid expansion and new insurance exchanges are the key ways the health overhaul expands coverage to as many as 30 million people starting in 2014. But the Supreme Court in June gave states the option to decide whether to expand Medicaid in 2014?(Galewitz, 11/7).

Kaiser Health News: Maine May Warm To 'Obamacare' After Democratic Sweep
North of the Mason-Dixon Line, it's hard to find a state that has given more of a cold shoulder to President Barack Obama?s health law than Maine. ... But Maine's voters may have short-circuited further resistance Tuesday by initiating a Democratic sweep that flipped control of both houses of the State Legislature, and is now poised to challenge Gov. Paul LePage, a tea party Republican opposed to the law (Galewitz, 11/8).

CQ HealthBeat: ?After Election, Governors Face Medicaid Decision
So far, six GOP governors, all of whom remain in power, have said that they would not expand the health program for the poor (Adams, 11/7).

The Associated Press: Obama?s Win Forces Walker?s Hand On Health Care
President?Barack Obama's re-election is forcing the hand of Wisconsin Gov.?Scott Walker, who had stopped all efforts to implement the federal health care reform law in the hopes that Republicans would take over in Washington. ... Walker's administration and Republican leaders in the state Legislature are now scrambling to figure out their next move (Bauer, 11/7).

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walker, Other Officials Have To Scramble On Obamacare Compliance
Walker decided late last year to stop planning to implement the health care law in the state, preferring instead to hold out for an Obama defeat and a repeal of the law (Stein, 11/7).

The Associated Press: Kan. Officials Ponder Next Health Care Step
Kansas officials are considering their next steps to implement the federal health care law now that the presidential election has been decided and deadlines are looming. The state has until Nov. 16 to tell the federal government whether it wants to be a partner in creating an online health insurance marketplace (Milburn, 11/7).

Kansas Health Institute News: Praeger Seeks Quick Insurance Exchange Answer From Governor
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said today that she wants to meet this week with Gov. Sam Brownback about how to move forward with implementation of the federal health reform law. ?Specifically, Praeger said she wants to talk to Brownback about the state partnering with the federal government on a health insurance purchasing exchange (McLean, 11/7).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Big Healthcare Decisions Loom For State In Election?s Wake
Two major decisions loom for [Georgia] Gov. Nathan Deal and other Republican governors who have put off key decisions tied to the law, hoping it would be repealed if Mitt Romney won election. One is whether they to accept billions of federal dollars to expand Medicaid, the government health program for the poor. Deal?s decision will determine whether hundreds of thousands of low-income Georgians get access to health coverage. To date Deal has said the state can?t afford the expansion longterm?(Williams, 11/7).

Georgia Health News: Health Care Law Lives ? And Ga. Faces Big Choices
Still, there may be a middle ground between states rejecting [Medicaid] expansion and fully pursuing it, Custer said. Some states have approached the federal government about a partial expansion, up to 100 percent of the federal poverty rate, rather than up to 138 percent ($15,415 for an individual; $26,344 for a family of three in 2012) as currently required?(Miller, 11/7).

North Carolina Health News: In Wake Of Election, Questions About NC?s Implementation Of Health Reform
One of the questions that?s been open during this campaign season in North Carolina has been the fate of the state?s Medicaid program.?... Although some in the General Assembly have balked at the price tag, the political backlash of not covering a big chunk of North Carolina?s 1.5 million uninsured may be too great. And the state?s hospitals stand to lose big if a Medicaid expansion does not go forward (Hoban, 11/7).

Health News Florida: FL To Miss Exchange Deadline
[L]ike a kid who didn?t do his homework, the state?s about to miss an important deadline in implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On Nov. 16 -- in just eight days -- states are supposed to turn in the applications and blueprints for their health insurance exchanges. ... Even if Gov. Rick Scott had a change of heart and wanted to send in an application, the Legislature hasn't given him the authority (Gentry, 11/8).

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Va. To Use Federal Health Exchange Option ? For Now
[Gov. Bob] McDonnell said he would default to a federal exchange with the understanding that the state could change course later. ? Defaulting to a federal exchange would reverse the position that McDonnell and the General Assembly took last year, when he signed a law giving him the authority to plan for implementing a state-based health benefits exchange under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Martz, 11/7).

MPR: Election Likely Removes Obstacles To Health Care Overhaul In Minn.
Democrats now control the capitol, led by Gov. Mark Dayton, who solidly supports the president's health care overhaul. ... Consultant Joel Ario, who formerly headed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Insurance Exchanges during the Obama administration, said Minnesota is well ahead of most other states. "I expect Minnesota will be one of the first states to be approved for a state-based exchange," Ario said (Stawicki, 11/8).

Health Policy Solutions (a Colo. news service): Now In Control, Colorado Democrats Want Medicaid Expansion
"We would like to push to get health care to as many people as possible because that?s going to reduce the costs for everyone,? said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, who is expected to take the reins of the Colorado House in January after Democrats recaptured control of it on Tuesday. Gov. John Hickenlooper is more circumspect. While he supports expansion of health care, Hickenlooper refused to say whether he?ll support Medicaid expansion (Kerwin McCrimmon, 11/7).

Los Angeles Times: California Speeds Revamp Of Health Insurance Market
With President Obama's reelection lifting a potential roadblock, California officials are rushing to implement the federal healthcare law and revamp the insurance market for millions of Californians starting next fall. ... Wednesday, California officials disclosed plans to spend nearly $90 million next year on marketing and outreach to millions of consumers who may become eligible for premium subsidies and other assistance under the federal law starting in 2014 (Terhune, 11/7).

California Healthline: December Special Session Now ?Full Steam Ahead?
The nation's re-election of Barack Obama means California lawmakers will have a much busier and more productive special legislative session in December, according to state lawmakers. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called for the December special session as a way to make sure California is fully on board with implementation of the Affordable Care Act. ? Issues to address in the special session ? include reform of the individual health insurance market?(Gorn, 11/7).

California Healthline: Prop. 30 Could Stem Health Care Costs
Although revenues from Prop. 30 will help fund education, if it hadn't passed on Tuesday, the Legislature would be facing yet another massive budget shortfall and lawmakers would need to look at cutting many more millions of dollars. Health care programs and services would've been on the chopping block once again (Gorn, 11/8).

The Associated Press/Dallas Morning News: After Election Texas Legislature Faces Tough Issues Ahead
Texas Republicans will go into the 2013 legislative session with much of the same agenda as last year: tackle government spending, tighten immigration laws and discourage abortion. ? The first order of business will be to make up for a $4.3 billion budget deficit by March, when funding will run out for Medicaid, the health care for the poor, elderly and disabled. Comptroller Susan Combs has forecast $5 billion in unexpected revenue this two-year budget cycle, so covering the tab should be relatively easy. The next two-year budget, though, will present a bigger challenge, with the Department of Health and Human Services expecting Medicaid costs to increase more than $7 billion (11/7).

This is part of Kaiser Health News' Daily Report - a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day's news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

Source: http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/November/08/states-health-reform.aspx

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With Budget Cuts Looming, Is Science A Lame Duck?

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

FLORA LICHTMAN, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY, I'm Flora Lichtman, filling in for Ira Flatow this week. Early Wednesday morning, when President Obama reaccepted the job, he said...

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We want our children to live in America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.

(APPLAUSE)

LICHTMAN: The destructive power of a warming planet. But is President Obama prepared to tackle climate in his second term? How about the space program? Are we still sending humans to an asteroid? And health care, will Obamacare kick in as scheduled? What will science policy look like in the next four years, and more immediately, how much science will take the plunge if we head over that dreaded fiscal cliff?

Fifteen billion dollars in budget cuts for science next year if Congress fails to act by January. What will that mean for research and for researchers? Science after the election, that's what we're talking about this hour. So give us a call. Our number is 1-800-989-8255. That's 1-800-989-TALK. You can tweet us @scifri.

Now let me introduce my guest. Michael Lubell is a professor of physics at the City College of the City University of New York. He's also the director of public affairs for the American Physical Society, and he's here with us today in our New York studios. Welcome back to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

MICHAEL LUBELL: Thank you very much.

LICHTMAN: So what's at stake for science with the fiscal cliff? Let's start there.

LUBELL: Well, what's at stake for science is also what is at stake for the nation. If the - we go off the fiscal cliff, and I'm not sure that's the right term for it, but if we go off the fiscal slope, several things are going to happen. Number one, the economy is likely to contract. That means that federal revenues will decline, and that means there'll be less money available to spend on a variety of programs, including science.

And more particularly, we're facing something called the sequestration, and that is what you referred to when you said $15 billion will be coming out of the science budgets, and that is absolutely correct. The effects of that will be felt in a variety of ways. We'll be doing a lot less research. The National Science Foundation, in fact, will lose the capacity to fund almost one-third of the kinds of proposals it receives in any given year.

And facilities at the Department of Energy will also be forced to curtail operations. We will be heading into a dark age.

LICHTMAN: That's scary. Have you heard from researchers or university presidents? Are people worried about this in the scientific community?

LUBELL: One of the most amazing things is scientists tend to be very optimistic. And I'm sometimes the gloom-and-doom guy, but I would say many people simply have not been following what goes on in Washington. It's an amazing situation. I speak in many different places, many universities, and people, their eyes open up, their jaws drop, and they say that was really happening? And I say, well, if you read a little bit of the newspaper, and you follow some of the news, you might discover that we are facing a serious problem.

LICHTMAN: I mean, the fiscal cliff was in the news today I think moments ago, minutes ago. President Obama made an announcement. Are we any closer to averting it?

LUBELL: Well, you know, we've been stymied by politics for the last four years or at least two of the four years, and the dynamics may change in January. On the other hand, some of the realities are still with us. The Senate is somewhat more Democratic with the election of two new members. We'll be up 55 out of the 100.

The House is going to remain Republican, and although Democrats picked up a few seats, the dynamics are largely unchanged in both chambers. And so unless there's a real wakeup call for the leaders, I think we've got a problem.

LICHTMAN: Well, I mean, you know, with Chris Christie sort of acknowledging that climate change is a problem, do you think that - are you starting to see a shift, people coming together on this issue, or do you think that's more wishful thinking?

LUBELL: That's a very interesting question. Chris Christie and of course Mayor Bloomberg both spoke out. it's also interesting that Jeff Flake, who won his senatorial election in Arizona and is a real fiscal conservative, Republican member of the - new Republican member of the Senate, is somebody who believes climate change is a serious issue.

Whether he will be able to - since he's a very conservative member, whether he's going to be able to lead some of his colleagues in the same direction remains to be seen, but without question Sandy was a wakeup call. Also we had the hottest summer on record. July was the hottest month. We have had droughts that we haven't seen for more than half a century, and the weather is getting a little weird. So perhaps people will wake up and say, you know, we ought to take a closer look at this.

LICHTMAN: Yeah, I mean, this becomes a question of security.

LUBELL: Absolutely. It's all kinds of security. We have naval bases that are exposed. We have infrastructure of all kinds. We saw what happened with Wall Street closing down for 48 hours for the first time I think since - I can't remember, it's over a century. And that's the financial heart of our nation, and these are the sorts of things that we can't really tolerate very well. And so resilience is a piece of the equation that we have to deal with in addition to looking more carefully at the science.

LICHTMAN: Do you get the sense that Obama is prioritizing climate change in this second term? I've heard him mention it more, I think, recently, including in the clip we just heard.

LUBELL: Well, it's been a toxic issue for him, and what - we saw what happened in the first six months of his presidency, where he actually went out on a limb on this and actually forced a number of the House Democrats to walk out on the limb with him, and that limb snapped.

So I think he's going to be a little bit cautious in how he approaches this. I would suggest that what he really needs to do is to enlist the support of people like Jeff Flake and a few others in the Republican Party to try to make this a bipartisan issue rather than a Democratic issue.

LICHTMAN: The number of physicists in Congress doubled from one to two. Should we be celebrating this fact?

LUBELL: Well, the number went up, and a couple years ago it went down. We used to have three. We were down to one, now we're back up to two. Bill Foster won election. He had won once before and lost to Randy Hultgren last time around. So yeah, we got two, and I think we need more.

LICHTMAN: What about the space program? What should we expect to see there?

LUBELL: That's one of the most difficult ones because it is an extremely expensive program, and quite frankly over the last dozen years, NASA has not done itself a great deal of good in the way it has put together its strategic plan. So I think we're going to have to wait and see on that. Perhaps if NASA gets its act better together, we'll get a real direction that we need.

LICHTMAN: I mean, we've heard something about the asteroid as a destination. Is that changing? Is that a moving target?

LUBELL: Everything in Washington is a moving target.

LICHTMAN: Good point.

LUBELL: Perhaps not as fast as an asteroid, but it's there.

LICHTMAN: Let's go to the phones. Tevla(ph) from Flushing, New York, hi, you're on SCIENCE FRIDAY. Do you have a question?

TEVLA: Yes, I have a question for the gentleman. Obama was promising to hire 100,000 science and math teachers, but my question is we have to go back and see where our science education, especially in high school, goes wrong. I mean, we have to learn from our curriculum, maybe see how other countries are doing it. We have huge universities here, and we have to find out a way how to make science and math very interesting for our young kids so that problems like climate change can only be tackled if you have enough educated manpower.

So the basics is science and math is still we are lagging behind, and we have to find a solution for that in order to tackle any problems, including environment.

LICHTMAN: Thank you for your comments. What about that, science education? What's the state of that?

LUBELL: Very serious issue. I mean, just as the gentleman pointed out, we have a very leaky pipeline. And we can go back to the early education issues. When we look in high school, though, and I'll take physics as a good example, when we look at high school physics teachers, it's actually less than one-third of them have had physics education.

So they're teaching students starting off with their own deficiencies. This is not the way to educate a scientifically literate electorate of the future.

LICHTMAN: Well, let's talk about the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, as even the administration now refers to it. Is that safe from being dismantled? Do you think it'll kick in as scheduled?

LUBELL: As long as the president is in the White House, he's not going to sign a bill that abolishes it, and nor will the Senate go along with it. There are a couple of interesting things about that, that legislation, and that is many of the benefits really don't become apparent to the public until 2014. And so a lot of the criticism that we've seen, although I have to say that Governor Romney pointed out that there were certain features of that legislation that he liked, he liked the issue that you could not be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.

He liked the, sort of the extension to COBRA to 26 years and so forth. I think as these things kick in, the public becomes more knowledgeable about it, we'll have probably a better informed debate, and then we'll see where it goes.

LICHTMAN: Has the Obama administration favored any certain types of research over the last four years, and would you expect this to continue going forward?

LUBELL: There's always a split between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to research. Both parties historically have been supportive of science. The Democrats tend to favor things and more technologically based things that have a payoff in the near term. And Republicans take the approach that that's the kind of thing that industry ought to do, and you shouldn't - they call that picking winners and losers, but I think people in the - who do science policy as I do, we regard applied research as just as important. It is what we call the valley of death because nobody really wants to do it.

LICHTMAN: The valley of death, really?

LUBELL: The valley of death. We do a great job with discovery, and that's the long-term early-stage research, and industry does an outstanding job with taking discoveries that have already gone through the applied process, where they have things that they can package, they do development, and they market, and they do a great job with that, but nobody really pays close attention to the applied research that can have a time horizon of 10 years. And that's what we call the valley of death.

LICHTMAN: Yeah, thank you so much for joining us today.

LUBELL: It's my pleasure.

LICHTMAN: Michael Lubell is a professor of physics at the City College of the City University of New York. He's also the director of public affairs for the American Physical Society. We will be back after this break. Don't go away because we'll be talking with Oliver Sacks about his new book "Hallucinations," and believe me, some of the stories in this book, you won't believe it. We'll be back shortly. Stay with us.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LICHTMAN: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/11/09/164797141/with-budget-cuts-looming-is-science-a-lame-duck?ft=1&f=1007

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Today's Papers: Defense Spending, Health Insurance Ain't a Normal ...

Nov 06, 2012

A few pieces in the papers today on themes near and dear to the OTE heart.

First, while Gov. Romney?s proposed increase in defense spending became an important Obama talking point, the fact is that the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about remains alive and well, as discussed compellingly here.? One point the author makes really hit home for me from a few interactions I myself had in my White House days: the knee-jerk calculus on military spending by civilian politicians.

Obviously, Ike?s authority came from his military experience, but it?s rare, though thankfully increasingly less so, for civilian policy makers to question military spending.? It?s considered a stroke of boldness, if, like the President, you propose to slow its growth.

None of which is to say we should indiscriminately cut, but that, as I discuss at the end of this post, we should listen to people like Ike, who have the insider experience to make educated calls on what?s needed and what isn?t (follow the link to the Larry Korb piece, e.g.).

BTW, I recently cited Ed Luce?s book, Time to Start Thinking, about America?s current denial about many of our economic challenges.? He?s especially good on this one, talking to many defense experts who recognize the defense spending problem documented in the oped and how it is weakening the nation rather than strengthening it.

Next, a theme I haven?t visited for a while here is the old OTE saw that health care isn?t a normal market such that you?d expect competition to work the way Republican voucher plans presume it will.? Here?s a great example of a highly educated health care expert who herself has serious health needs trying to negotiate the system.

And if it?s this hard for her, imagine what it would be like for the average Joe and Jane.? For the life of me, I?ll never understand why ?Instead of guaranteed coverage under Medicare as its currently structured, we?ll let you shop for your insurance plan!? is a selling point.

Finally, here?s a piece amplifying the fact-abuse in this election cycle that struck many of us who?ve been around for a while as beyond the usual limits.? There?s a difference between bending and breaking facts, and I agree with the author here that the Romney team were terrible fact breakers.? More so than any campaign I?ve ever seen, they worked from a playbook that tried to take advantage of today?s ?truthiness? zeitgeist?the idea that making stuff up is fine if it?s part of your ?narrative? even if it?s belied by the facts.

Romney?s whole campaign can be usefully understood in this light: say what you will to win the severely conservatives hearts of Republican primary voters and then drop it all to capture the independents who will decide this thing.

And today we?ll learn if it worked.

?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 at 9:02 pm and is filed under New Posts, The Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Source: http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/todays-papers/

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Election Day 2012 Timeline Features Hours of TV Coverage as Polls Close

More than a year of debates, advertisements, gaffes and campaign speeches come down to an entire day of voting. Tuesday marks the nationwide election between Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Results won't be official for a couple of weeks. However, thanks to exit polling, media outlets may begin calling states as victories for one candidate over another when polls close in each state.

All times listed are Eastern.

6 p.m.: Some polls close in Indiana, Kentucky

The first polls to close are in the Eastern time zone of Kentucky and Indiana. These two states are complicated in that they are bifurcated by two different time zones. While the eastern portions of Kentucky and Indiana are done voting, the western half remains open for another hour. The Green Papers offers an alphabetical glance of polling hours across the United States.

Cable news networks aren't restricted by regular broadcast programming. As such, networks begin full-time coverage of the election in the early evening. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC begin their analyses as the first polls close. Networks offer specials throughout the day, but the best analysts come out at night. Channel Guide Magazine reveals when major networks start broadcasting during the evening.

7 p.m.: More polls close including Florida

The first major swing state closes its polls at 7 p.m. Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, wraps up voting just as broadcast networks CBS, ABC and NBC begin full coverage for seven hours into early Wednesday morning. Polls close in South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia as well.

7:30 p.m.: North Carolina, Ohio finish

Two swing states close polling places at 7:30 p.m. North Carolina and Ohio may be determined early in the broadcast evening if exit polling margins are wide enough.

8 p.m.: PBS starts coverage as more states close polls

On the east coast, several states close polls at 8 p.m. Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are done in the evening. The Wall Street Journal notes New Jersey will be an interesting place to monitor during the election as citizens will be allowed to vote by email due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas finish at this time.

PBS starts its election night coverage at more states close. The public broadcasting network may offer a different kind of coverage that major cable networks don't have.

9 p.m.: New York polls close

With each state closing its polls, networks begin calling who wins which state. New York is done at 9 p.m., in addition to Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

10 p.m.: Iowa, Nevada are done

The fate of Obama and Romney may be decided as early at 10 p.m. on the east coast. That's when Iowa is done voting, one of the key Midwestern swing states . Nevada also shutters its polling places at the same time.

11 p.m.: California finishes

The most populous state in the nation finishes at 11 p.m. on the east coast. California's 55 electoral votes are a huge grab for whoever wins.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/election-day-2012-timeline-features-hours-tv-coverage-183800216.html

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Ultrasensitive photon hunter

ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2012) ? When it comes to imaging, every single photon counts if there is barely any available light. This is the point where the latest technologies often reach their limits. Researchers have now developed a diode that can read photons faster than ever before.

Fast and ultrasensitive optical systems are gaining increasing significance and are being used in a diverse range of applications, for example, in imaging procedures in the fields of medicine and biology, in astronomy and in safety engineering for the automotive industry. Frequently the challenge lies in being able to record high-quality images under extremely low light conditions. Modern photo detectors for image capture typically reach their limits here. They frequently work with light-sensitive electronic components that are based on CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) image sensors. The problem is that neither the latest CMOS nor CCD systems can simultaneously guarantee a swift and highly-sensitive high quality image recording if there is a paucity of photons to read.

In cooperation with the partners of the MiSPiA project consortium the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg has now advanced the development of CMOS technology and introduced an ultrasensitive image sensor with this technology, based on Single Photon Avalanche Photodiodes (SPAD). Its pixel structure can count individual photons within a few picoseconds, and is therefore a thousand times faster than comparable models. Since each individual photon is taken into consideration camera images are also possible with extremely weak light sources.

Camera installed directly on chip

To achieve this the new image sensor uses the "internal avalanche breakdown effect"- a photoelectric amplification effect. The number of "avalanche breakdowns" corresponds to the number of photons that the pixels hit. In order to count these events, each of the sensor's pixels comes with very precise digital counters. At the same time, the scientists have applied microlenses to each sensor chip, which focus the incoming beam in each pixel onto the photoactive surface. Another advantage is that processing the digital image signals is already possible directly on the microchip; therefore, additional analogue signal processing is no longer needed.

"The image sensor is a major step toward digital image generation and image processing. It allows us to have the capability to use even very weak light sources for photography. The new technology installs the camera directly on the semiconductor, and is capable of turning the information from the light into images at a significantly faster pace," states Dr. Daniel Durini, group manager for optical components at the Fraunhofer Institute IMS.

IMS engineered the sensor under the European research project MiSPiA (Microelectronic Single-Photon 3D Imaging Arrays for low-light high-speed Safety and Security Applications). Altogether, seven partners throughout Europe from the fields of research and business are involved in the project. In the next stage, the scientists from Duisburg are working on a process to produce sensors that are back-lighted, and in this regard, even more powerful. At the same time, the new technology is already being utilized in tests for traffic. Chip-based mini-cameras protect vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians from collisions and chip-based accidents, or assist in the reliable functioning of safety belts and airbags.

The Fraunhofer Institute IMS will exhibit the new image sensor at "Vision" -- the world's leading trade show for image processing -- from November 6 to 8, 2012 in Stuttgart.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/3XsdVaTEFzc/121107073046.htm

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