Researchers at Australian National University have accidentally boosted the performance of gallium arsenide nanolasers by adding atoms of zinc. The improvement could enable better sensors, on-chip optics, and quantum computing:
Researcher Tim Burgess added atoms of zinc to lasers one hundredth the diameter of a human hair and made of gallium arsenide - a material used extensively in smartphones and other electronic devices. The impurities led to a 100 times improvement in the amount of light from the lasers.
"Normally you wouldn't even bother looking for light from nanocrystals of gallium arsenide - we were initially adding zinc simply to improve the electrical conductivity," said Mr Burgess, a PhD student in the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering. "It was only when I happened to check for light emission that I realised we were onto something."
Doping-enhanced radiative efficiency enables lasing in unpassivated GaAs nanowires (open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11927)
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday July 12 2016, @01:41AM
Zinc Doping Enhances Gallium Arsenide Nanolasers
You're right.. it could work. We just need to reverse the anti-tachyon flow and reroute it through the main deflector dish. It'll be like putting too much air into a balloon!
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @02:49AM
Researchers will be placed on administrative leave pending drug tests. Drug tests will not be administered. Researchers will be given failing test results anyway. Researchers will never work again, not anywhere, not ever. Their lives are over. Because they used the word "dope" in their research.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @03:06AM
Doping is ruining laser sports. They need to crack down on those cheaters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 12 2016, @03:09PM
A 100 times improvement!! That's some seriously good dope.