Air Force-Funded Research Is Shattering Traditional Notions Of Laser Limits: "and National Science Foundation-funded professor, Dr. Xiang Zhang has demonstrated at the University of California, Berkeley the world's smallest semiconductor laser, which may have applications to the Air Force in communications, computing and bio-hazard detection.
The semiconductor, called a plasmon, can focus light the size of a single protein in a space that is smaller than half its wavelength while maintaining laser-like qualities that allow it to not dissipate over time.
'Proposed almost seven years ago, researchers had been unable to demonstrate a working plasmonic laser until our experiment,' said Zhang. 'It is an important discovery because it has the potential to eliminate optical loss and make plasmonic-based technologies viable for a broad spectrum of applications.'"
