Scientists Create Tiniest Semiconductor Laser – 3,000 Times Smaller Than a Millimeter

Scientists create smallest semiconductor laser that works in visible range at room temperature. An international team of researchers led by researchers from ITMO University announced…

An international team of researchers led by researchers from ITMO University announced the development of the world’s most compact semiconductor laser that works in the visible range at room temperature. According to the authors of the research, the laser is a nanoparticle of only 310 nanometers in size (which is 3,000 times less than a millimeter) that can produce green coherent light at room temperature. The research article was published in ACS Nano.

This year, the international community of optical physicists celebrates the anniversary of a milestone event: 60 years ago, in the middle of May, American physicist Theodor Maiman demonstrated the operation of the first optical quantum generator — a laser. Now, Sixty years later, an international team of scientists published a work where they demonstrated experimentally the world’s most compact semiconductor laser that operates in the visible range at room temperature. This means that the coherent green light that it produces can be easily registered and even seen by a naked eye using a standard optical microscope.

It’s worth mentioning that the scientists succeeded in conquering the green part of the visible band which was considered problematic for nanolasers. “In the modern field of light-emitting semiconductors, there is the “green gap” problem,” says Sergey Makarov, principal investigator of the article and Professor at the Faculty of Physics and Engineering of ITMO University. “The green gap means that the quantum efficiency of conventional semiconductor materials used for light-emitting diodes falls dramatically in the green part of the spectrum. This problem complicates the development of room temperature nanolasers made of conventional semiconductor materials.”

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from St. Petersburg has chosen halide perovskite as the material for their nanolasers. A traditional laser consists of two key elements — an active medium that allows for generation of coherent stimulated emission and an optical resonator that helps to confine electromagnetic energy inside for a long time. The perovskite can provide both of these properties: a nanoparticle of a certain shape can act as both the active medium and the efficient resonator.

As a result, the scientists succeeded in fabricating a cubic-shaped particle of 310 nanometers in size, which can generate laser radiation at room temperature when photoexcited by a femtosecond laser pulse……..More Here

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