Development of Ultra-Compact Nanolaser Technology Expanding Optical Communication Information

Professor Hong-Gyu Park's research team at Seoul National University (photo) has developed the world's smallest vortex nanolaser that outperforms existing devices in terms of performance. This research is expected to enable the transmission of more information in optical communication and quantum information communication.

The results of the research on the development of a high-efficiency, high-performance ultra-small nanolaser, jointly developed by Professor Park's team and Professor Yuri Kivshar's team at the Australian National University with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT's Basic Research Program (Mid-career Researcher), were published on the 28th in the international journal Nature Photonics.

According to Professor Park's research team, recent studies in the field of optics have actively focused on controlling the angular momentum, which is the degree of rotation of light. By quantizing angular momentum, information can be encoded to increase the amount of data transmitted simultaneously in optical communication. This can be applied in various fields such as large-capacity optical communication.

The problem was that ultra-small laser devices could not possess such angular momentum. To compensate, methods combining filters that impart angular momentum to light with laser devices have been used, but these devices were large?tens of micrometers (μm, 1 μm is one-millionth of a meter), about the thickness of a human hair?and had lower performance.

In response, the research team newly designed an optical resonator, a device that confines the light necessary for the laser. The team developed a "disclination optical resonator" by inserting air holes instead of atoms at atomic positions in an artificial crystal, realizing a nanolaser in which the light emitted from the laser circulates. Disclination is a defect where the symmetry of atomic arrangement in a crystal is broken, also known as rotational misalignment.

The developed optical resonator is 1/3.75 the size of previously reported devices in academia, and the laser efficiency has increased 24 times.

Professor Park said, "The new nanolaser can even control polarization characteristics as desired, and it is expected to have great value in new research on highly integrated photonic and quantum circuits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.