Researchers Develop Nanolaser Tech That is All-Optical and Capable of Fast Data Processing

Scientists in Korea have come up with a new completely optical approach in forwarding several nanolaser arrays that are high in density. According to SciTechDaily, such a method can facilitate communication connections that are chip-based and optical which handle and transfer data more speedily compared to current devices that run on electricity.

A Boost in Information Processing

Research leader Myung-Ki Kim expressed how coming up with optical interconnects armed with remarkably dense nanolasers will significantly boost data processing within centers that spread data across the web. He further expressed how it may allow even more HD streaming, expand the scale of interactive digital games and encounters, boost IoT advancements and provide a speedier connection for big data analytics.

In the Optica study, the scientists showed that nanolaser arrays that are integrated densely, with only 18 microns in the distance, can be completely run and managed by one optical fiber's sole light.

Kim notes how optical devices booted in a chip may serve as a potential substitute for electronically integrated devices that find it hard to meet information processing demands. He further notes that the team removed the huge, intricate electrodes usually used in driving laser arrays. By doing so, they could lessen the dimensions while removing the heat generation. This also eliminated delays in processing that usually come alongside electrode-grounded drivers.

Light as the Substitute for Electrodes

These nanolasers can be helpful in circuit systems that are optical and integrated and that may generate, detect, transfer, and process data within a microchip with light. Rather than using fine copper wires, these circuits utilize waveguides that allow larger bandwidth with lesser heat generation.

However, considering the nano-scale size of these circuits, it is important to develop ways to push and manage these nano-scale light sources efficiently.

For the lasers to expel light, they need energy through pumping. When it comes to nanolaser arrays, it is usually done by using electrode pairs for respective nanolasers within arrays. It usually needs significant space on the chip and energy levels. At the same time, it also leads to delays in processing.

In order to bypass this limitation, the scientists used a particular optical driver instead of electrodes. This driver came up with light patterns that are programmable, and that come to be through interference. The pump light moves through the optical fiber to where nanolasers are printed.

Phys notes that in the demonstration of this method, the researchers used a transfer-printing method that is high resolution. They did so to develop several "photonic crystal nanolasers" stationed with distances worth 18 microns. Such arrays were applied on the exterior of an optical microfiber with a diameter of two microns.

This had to be executed with precise alignment with the pattern of interference. This pattern can be adjusted by modifying the pulse width and polarization of the driving beam.

Findings showed that several nanolaser arrays could be pushed through light routing through one specific fiber. Such results were in line with calculations and revealed that such nanolaser arrays could be completely managed by interference patterns that were pump beams.

Kim also expresses how their technology can also be used for photonic systems that are silicon and chip-based. Such may have a vital role in developing interconnects that are on-chip or chip-to-chip.

He notes, however, that it is necessary to show how silicon waveguide modes can be independently managed. If such can be executed, it would serve as a massive step forward in the progression of optical integrated circuits, and optical interconnects that are on-chip.

Check out more news and information on Nanotechnology in Science Times.