- 4549 - LASERS - how small in our future? - High-powered titanium sapphire lasers have been shrunk down with scientists planning to cram hundreds or thousands onto a four-inch wafer in a new chip. Researchers have built a titanium-sapphire (Ti:Sa) lasers that are 10,000 times smaller than any previous similar device and fit them onto a chip.
------------------------------------------- 4549
- LASERS - how
small in our future?
-
- Until now, such lasers have cost upwards of
$100,000. But with a new approach scientists believe the cost could drop to
$100 per laser. They also claimed that
thousands of lasers could be built onto one four-inch wafer in the future and
the cost per laser could become minimal. These small-scale lasers could be used
in future quantum computers, in neuroscience and even in micro-level surgeries.
-
- The experimental laser relies on two crucial
processes. First, they ground a sapphire crystal down to a layer just a few
hundred nanometers thick. They then fashioned a swirling vortex of tiny ridges,
into which they shone a green laser pointer. With each rotation within that
vortex, the laser’s intensity increased.
-
- Sapphire is a very tough material. And when
you grind it down, oftentimes, it doesn’t like it, it cracks, or it damages
what you’re using to try to grind out.
Once this problem was solved, the
process as "smooth sailing."
-
- One reason the team is so optimistic is that
its lasers can be tuned to different wavelengths; specifically, from 700 to
1,000 nanometers, or red to infrared.
The laser’s intensity is increased via a series of vortexes within the
crystal’s surface.
-
- The miniature lasers could be used in
quantum computers helping to make them much smaller in the process. They could
also revolutionize the field of optogenetics where scientists control neurons
with light guided inside the brain; currently, they use chunky optical fiber
technology. Miniature Ti:Sa lasers can
be used in laser surgery.
-
- Hundreds, or even thousands, of lasers can
fit on one four-inch wafer. The first
"tunable laser" for academic users could go on sale within two years.
The potential applications of these miniaturized lasers are vast.
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-
September 8, 2024 LASERS
- how small in our future? 4549
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--------------------- --- Sunday, September 8,
2024
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