The photo charge of a bacterioRhodopsin electrochemical cells measured by a charge amplifier

We propose that electrochemical cells based on bacterioRhodopsin (bR), a photosensitive protein, generate electric charges under illuminated light and that a suitable signal detection apparatus for this cell type is a charge amplifier. By using charge amplifiers, we observed bR-photocell electric charges that were proportional to the intensity of incident light, which ranged from 0 to 8mW/cm2. Then, the 4 × 4 micro-patterned bR photosensor array was connected to charge amplifiers to form an image sensor system. Static and moving images were detected with the constructed image sensor system.