A research team from Northwestern University has formulated a method to produce laser devices that function in room temperature and are the size of a virus particle. The "nanolaser" employs gold nano-particles as opposed to mirrors, and is reportedly the first method to have used Bowtie arrangement of nanoparticles, although nanolasers is not that new a concept. The nanolasers could easily be incorporated into silicon-based photonic-devices, optical circuits as well as nanoscale bisensors.
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Reducing the size of photonic elements is essential for ultra-fast data processing and heavy information storage. The nanolaser, undoubtedly, serves the same purpose. Teri Odom, leading the research, stated that coherent light sources are important for observing phenomena in reduced dimensions, and even for realizing optical devices which could potentially beat the diffraction of light. Fabrication of small-sized nanolasers (smaller than that permitted by diffraction) is possible owing to the lasing cavity designed of nanoparticle dimers (in 3D 'bowtie' shape'), he added.
Employing bowtie geometry is beneficial as it provides a well-defined electromagnetic hot-spot in a very small volume, and owing to its distinct geometry, the metal losses are pretty minimal.