Researchers at DTU have developed a groundbreaking nanolaser that could be the key to much faster and much more energy-efficient computers, phones, and data centers. The invention of the nanolaser has been published in the scientific journal Science Advances. The technology offers the prospect of thousands of the new lasers being placed on a single microchip, thus opening a digital future where data is no longer transmitted using electrical signals, but using light particles, photons.
"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.
He co-authored the publication together with, among others, Drs. Meng Xiong and Yi Yu from DTU Electro.
Halving computers’ energy use
The internet already communicates data in the form of light particles on fiber optic cables, but computers use electricity to send data through the electronic circuits. This limits speed and generates heat.
By bringing light directly into the microchip itself using nanolasers, the digital technology of the future can become faster, cooler, and far more climate friendly. This is possible because nanolasers can efficiently generate light signals that can be transmitted with almost no energy loss. When it comes to computers, Jesper Mørk estimates that nanolasers can halve energy consumption.
The ultra-compact nanolaser from DTU is a necessary building block for this vision because, in the future, microchips will need thousands of tiny, energy-efficient lasers to send light signals internally on the chip.
A technological breakthrough
The nanolaser was developed in DTU’s clean room, DTU Nanolab, and, according to Jesper Mørk, it breaks the traditional limit on how small lasers can be. The laser is based on a light-trapping structure - a nanocavity - that concentrates light extremely powerfully in an area so small that such designs were previously considered impossible.
When the researchers illuminate the laser with a beam of light, both the light and the electrons gather in a microscopic area. This enables the laser to operate at room temperature with unusually low energy consumption.
The DTU researchers' light-trapping structure was originally designed by Professor Ole Sigmund's group from DTU Construct.
Faster technology, less CO₂, and better sensors
If the nanolaser can be powered electrically in the future—and that will be the next big challenge in research - it could revolutionize a wide range of technologies. Computers and smartphones could use significantly less power and deliver higher performance, and data centers could dramatically reduce their energy consumption, resulting in major climate savings. Within health technology, the nanolaser would enable the development of ultra-sensitive sensors and high-resolution imaging systems.
Researchers estimate that the final technical challenges can be solved within the next 5–10 years.
