#OPTICS: "On-Chip Lasers Compute with Light"

Semiconductor researchers have found a way to grow tiny lasers on silicon chips, opening the door to a future where all communication is done with photons instead of electrons. Look for mobile devices using nanolasers that are smaller, lighter, and ultra-low power within seven years. R. Colin Johnson @NextGenLog


Nanoneedle-based lasers grown on silicon wafers form heterostructures—regions of dissimilar semiconductors—composed of III-V cores clad with insulators like aluminum-gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs).

Here is what my Smarter Technology story says about nanolasers: Silicon chip makers will soon be able to grow semiconductor lasers right on the same chip with processors, memory, and logic, enabling ultra-small, ultra-cheap, and ultra-low-power devices that compute with light instead of electrons, according to researchers at the University of California at Berkeley...
Full Text: http://bit.ly/NextGenLog-dGRY