Engineers grow nanolasers on silicon

The invention could lead to, if we believe the scientists, to a new class of much more efficient microprocessors.

The research group found a solution by growing nanopillars made of indium gallium arsenide, a III-V material, onto a silicon surface at the relatively cool temperature of 400 degrees Celsius."Working at nanoscale levels has enabled us to grow high quality III-V materials at low temperatures such that silicon electronics can retain their functionality," Chen said. He claims that technique could be applied to mass-manufacturing and  that it can generate near infrared laser light at room temperature.

"The hexagonal geometry dictated by the crystal structure of the nanopillars creates a new, efficient, light-trapping optical cavity," a press release stated. "Light circulates up and down the structure in a helical fashion and amplifies via this optical feedback mechanism."

There was no information whether and when this technology could go into production. the detailed results of the study are published in the February 6 issue of Nature Photonics.

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Douglas Perry
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Douglas Perry was a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering semiconductors, storage technology, quantum computing, and processor power delivery. He has authored several books and is currently an editor for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

  • mister g
    Saw this on PCWorld yesterday, wonder what'll come first this or graphene CPUs in mainstream PCs.
    Reply
  • bto
    intriguing! Now you really can have freaking sharks with freaking lasers attached to their heads!
    Reply
  • jgalecio
    I was thinking self powered nano lasers for nanoscopic surgery and even viral destruction!
    Reply
  • dark_lord69
    jgalecioI was thinking self powered nano lasers for nanoscopic surgery and even viral destruction!Interesting...
    Although I think the goal of all this is to be able to allow a CPU to transmit data from one part of the CPU to another part using this technology which would work similar to fiber optics. I believe the ultimate goal would be to have the whole motherboard, CPU and RAM comunicating using connections that are similar to fiber optics to allow an unbelievable amount of bandwidth. But I could be completely wrong about all of that... :P
    Reply
  • fyasko
    so this would be the next step in computer processing? or is it... "Marine diatoms, a unicellular algae, build their hard, patterned cell walls with microscopic lines of silica — a compound related to silicon, which is a key material for constructing computer chips and semiconductors."

    Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/01/21/algae-computers.html#ixzz1DPNQUj3v


    either way exciting stuff...
    Reply
  • Grizely1
    making the cpu and mobo fiber optic wouldn't serve too much purpose. loss of data is the biggest reason for using fibre optic, specifically over distances (eliminating resistance in the transmitting medium)
    Reply
  • Grizely1
    maybe in a few decades when cpus are bottlenecked by the speed at which signals transmit through copper mediums...
    Reply
  • tpi2007
    "at the relatively cool temperature of 400 degrees Celsius."


    400 is not a relatively cool temperature in my book. Should it be 40 ?
    Reply
  • Relative to a typical "hot" laser, 400C is cool.
    Reply
  • bayouboy
    Grizely1making the cpu and mobo fiber optic wouldn't serve too much purpose. loss of data is the biggest reason for using fibre optic, specifically over distances (eliminating resistance in the transmitting medium)
    Uhhh, physics says otherwise man. Light is much faster than the propagation of a magnetic field in an electrical circuit which is much faster than electron flow. So yes, using light would yield a significantly faster CPU and far better bandwidth all around.

    If silicon was as fast as light, it would have to be superconducting.

    Are you saying that your CPU has superconducting material?!?
    Reply