Scientists demonstrate high-performing room-temperature nanolaser

According to Yokohama researcher Toshihiko Baba, the new nanolaser can be operated in two modes depending what kind of "Q" value is chosen. Q refers to quality factor, the ability for an oscillating system to continue before running out of energy. A common example of an oscillating system would be a tuning fork. The higher its Q value, the longer it will ring after being struck. Lasers are oscillating systems because they produce light waves that repeatedly bounce back and forth inside the device to build up a beam. Nanolasers operated in a high-Q mode (20,000) will be useful for optical devices in tiny chips (optical integrated circuits). In a moderate-Q (1500) configuration the nanolaser needs only an extremely small amount of external power to bring the device to the threshold of producing laser light. In this near-thresholdless operation, the same technology will permit the emission of very low light levels, even single photons.

Article: Kengo Nozaki, Shota Kita, and Toshihiko Baba, "Room temperature continuous wave operation and controlled spontaneous emission in ultrasmall photonic crystal nanolaser," Optics Express, Vol. 15, Issue 12, pp. 7506-7514, full text available at http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm.

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