Toshihiko Baba, of Yokohama National University in Japan, and his colleagues have put together a minute laser from a special material that has the ability to control the motion of wavelengths of light. These photonic crystals, not new to scientists because they have been studied for over a century, are periodic optical nanostructures that are specifically designed to alter the behavior of photons (quantum packets of light). By being able to control photon motion, scientists can make photonic crystals act like semiconductor crystals.

The Baba team used light from a normal sized laser. The light was projected onto micron-wide pieces (one millionth of a meter wide) of semiconductor material that contained tiny, hexagonal-shaped holes. The holes scattered the light, producing interference within the multitude of light rays. The semiconductor material became reflective as a result of this action.

The scientists then spaced two holes one micron apart, which made these two unique holes different from all of the other tiny, hexagonal-shaped holes. This action caused light rays from a single wavelength to bounce between the two holes. This bouncing action created the nanolaser.

What makes this invention so important, in the area of computer technology, is the possibility of making multiple-processor computers even faster than currently possible.

The complete result of the making of the nanolaser is found in the June 11, 2007 issue of Optics Express. The paper, titled “Room temperature continuous wave operation and controlled spontaneous emission in ultrasmall photonic crystal nanolaser” appears at: http://www.opticsexpress.org/DirectPDFAccess/CA57083D-BDB9-137E-C22E82B9B13285EE_138211.pdf?da=1&id=138211&seq=0&CFID=48651243&CFTOKEN=69422103.

The team includes Baba, along with Kengo Nozaki and Shota Kita, all from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Yokohama National University in Japan.

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