Science > Physics > The first polariton laser to operate at room temperature
| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sam Wormley" |
| Date: |
27 Mar 2007 10:19:29 PM |
| Object: |
The first polariton laser to operate at room temperature |
Polariton laser reaches room temperature (Mar 27)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/3/19
The first polariton laser to operate at room temperature has been
demonstrated by physicists in the UK and Switzerland. The researchers
claim that the semiconductor device requires ten times less energy to
operate than a comparable conventional solid-state laser. The
breakthrough could lead the way to very low power lasers for use in
optical data-storage systems (Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 126405).
Polaritons are “quasiparticles” that arise from the coupling of light
with an electric dipole in a semiconductor material. More precisely,
they consist of a photon and an exciton, which is itself a dipolar
quasiparticle comprising a bound electron-hole pair. Polaritons are
part light and part matter -- and possess new properties not seen in
either photons or excitons.
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