UC Berkeley Poindexters Invent Smallest Semiconductor Laser

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley have a new reason to brag. They have invented the worlds smallest semiconductor laser. The laser made at Berkeley was made using standard semiconductor resources and fabrication technology. However they have found a way to reduce visible light into a size that fits in a 5 nanometer gap. The researchers has also engineered “hybrid surface plasmons” to keep the light from dissipating as it moves through the gap. The plasmons represent a new milestone for laser physics and could change the way that nanolasers probe going forward.