DIY engineer builds a 2-billion-fps camera to film light in motion

AlphaPhoenix, a DIY YouTuber, has successfully built a 2-billion-fps camera and used it to record a video of a laser bouncing back and forth between two mirrors — in HD quality.

The process is a complex one, because while the camera is capable of recording at 2 billion frames per second, it is only capable of recording one pixel at a time. So to make an HD video, every pixel has to be recorded individually and then synchronized through a process he calls “tiling.”

The components of the camera

• Mirror: The first part of the camera is a mirror which guides light from a specific direction through the lens and into the optics train. By repositioning the mirror to target different directions, different pixels are recorded.
• Optics train: This is an enclosed tube that light passes through to reach the pinhole. The length of the pinhole can be adjusted to ensure the incoming light is properly focused, allowing only a small part (pixel) to enter the pinhole.
• Sensor: The sensor is a photomultiplier tube (PMT), a very sensitive type of sensor that converts incoming light into electrical signals (current). This current is then converted into a measurable voltage by a resistor.
• Oscilloscope: The oscilloscope is the powerhouse of the camera. It measures and stores the signal coming from the sensor at a rate of 2 billion times per second.