The world's smallest semiconductor laser?

In the recent scientific developements, the latest invention is of the world's smallest semiconductor laser by the physicists over at the university of texas at Austin. This developement is said to be done under the collaboration of the colleagues in taiwan and china. Whats great is that this is easily a breakthrough in every field we know of from computing to medicine.

What we can gain now by this technology is completely in our own hands. Thinking of its uses what every man finds, is that it could certainly lead to a faster, smaller and lower energy consuming computer chips ensuring faster and easier data communication, resulting in super-duper fast computers! Not to forget the high tech uses of the laser in the weapons and medical field. This minion laser can simply give us the power of nanotechnology. We will be able to develop each and every machine further which we have currently running on the technology of lasers. Faster printers, faster and smaller hard drives and dvd drives, more efficient laser wielders, Ultra sensitive biosensors for the detection, treatment and study of various diseases and many more!

Imagine a circuit less computer..where there will be no need of wires and integrated circuits because all the data could be transmitted using the nano lasers using the optical signals for communication! This could speed up the computing power of the devices by a thousand times. What seems to be the only trouble for these new photonic devices is the term "three dimensional optical diffraction limit".

"We have developed a nano laser device that operates well below the 3-D diffraction limit," said Chih-Kang "Ken" Shih, professor of physics at The University of Texas at Austin. "We believe our research could have a large impact on nanoscale technologies."

But as said above it looks like the scientists have found a solution for that problem since this new nano laser can operate smoothly below the said 3-D diffraction limit. Shih and his associates reported earlier that the first operation of a continuous wave below the 3-D diffraction limit was completed without any contingencies. They even added that the nanolaser when fired emits a green light thats too small to be visible with naked eye.

The magic elements that are responsible for the existence of this nano device are gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride, both of which are used in semiconductor LEDs. The basic construction shows that a gallium nitride nano rod partially filled with indium gallium nitride. The nanorod is placed on top of a thin insulating layer of silicon that in turn covers a layer of silver film that is smooth at the atomic level.

The Shih lab has been perfecting this material for more than 15 years and now this effort has finally paid off. According to this  experiment the Atomic smoothness is the ultimate key to building photonic devices that don't scatter and in turn lose plasmos after a while. Plasmos are the waves of electrons the can be used for the transmission of a large amount of data.

"Atomically smooth plasmonic structures are highly desirable building blocks for applications with low loss of data," said Shih.

The nanolasers such as this could be the factor that could lead to the development of computer chips where all the processes are contained on the same piece of silicon which is also known as the "On-chip communication systems". If this new type of communication system works out then the speed of data processing will decrease drastically as it would prevent heat gains and the information loss while data-pass between multiple chips.

"Size mismatches between electronics and photonics have been a huge barrier to realize on-chip optical communications and computing systems," said Shangjr Gwo, professor at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwain and a former doctoral student of Shih's.

If you guys have watched "tron the Legacy" then you gyus must also remember the "light cycle". Now when computers will be made out of lasers then we can think of the same type of data race with the speed of light going on every second inside that CPU of yours! Get the picture?

What this new technology brings for us in the future still is a secret and the future  holds all secrets. Till then we can only be patient and hope for the best, because personally for me the day when we could use computers made of lasers, would be the best day of my life.

What do yo think about it? Share it with us.