GoKawiilThe development of a nanolaser could mark an early step toward a future in which microchips communicate entirely with particles of light.
Researchers at DTU have created a tiny nanolaser that could eventually help make computers, smartphones, and data centers faster while using much less energy. The breakthrough was published in the scientific journalScience Advances.
In the future, thousands of these lasers could potentially be integrated onto a single microchip. Instead of moving information around a chip with electrical signals, devices could transmit data using photons, the particles that make up light.
"The nanolaser opens up the possibility of creating a new generation of components that combine high performance with minimal size. This could be in information technology, for example, where ultra-small and energy-efficient lasers can reduce energy consumption in computers, or in the development of sensors for the healthcare sector, where the nanolaser's extreme light concentration can deliver high-resolution images and ultrasensitive biosensors," says DTU professor Jesper Mørk.
Mørk co-authored the study with, among others, Drs. Meng Xiong and Yi Yu from DTU Electro.
Using Light Inside Computer Chips
Much of the internet already relies on light to carry information through fiber optic cables. Inside computers, however, data still moves through electronic circuits using electricity. That approach produces heat and can limit how quickly information can be transferred.
Nanolasers could bring optical communication directly onto microchips. By generating light signals efficiently inside the chip, they could allow information to move with very little energy loss, potentially making future devices faster, cooler, and more energy efficient.
Mørk estimates that using nanolasers in computers could reduce energy consumption by as much as half.
The compact DTU nanolaser is an important step toward that goal. Future chips designed around light-based communication would likely require thousands of extremely small, efficient lasers working together to transmit information across the chip.
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