April 12, 2013

Nanolasers could potentially provide the next big breakthrough to make computers and similar technologies operate faster and more reliably.

Lasers can give electronic devices more firepower for processing and computing functions. So the more lasers you can pack into devices, the better – thus the advantage of using the extremely tiny nanoscale lasers.

The drawback has been that the heat generated by the nanolasers made their use impractical. To counteract that heat required cooling – a lot of cooling – all the way down to more than 400 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

But recently, Arizona State University electrical engineer Cun-Zheng Ning and his research team announced progress in developing nanolasers capable of operating effectively at room temperature and with lower energy consumption – further opening the possibility of using them in consumer electronics.

Ning is a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

His team’s nanolaser advances were recently the subject of featured high-tech news on a local National Public Radio affiliate.

Article source: KJZZ 91.5 FM

Article: http://www.kjzz.org/content/1304/asu-researchers-develop-tiny-lasers-speed-computing