8. Optics:   New laser based on unusual physics phenomenon could improve telecommunications, computing

(image found at the same webpage as the source listed below)

SUMMARY:

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego have demonstrated the world’s first laser based on “an unconventional wave physics phenomenon called bound states in the continuum”. This technology can revolutionize the development of surface lasers by making them compact and energy efficient. The BIC laser is made from a “thin semiconductor mem‐ brane made of indium, gallium, arsenic and phosphorus”. This membrane is structured as an array of “nano-sized cylinders suspended in air”. According to Boubacar Kanté, an electrical engineering professor who led the study, they can get “the surface lasting to occur with arrays as small as 8 x 8 particles”, as compared to surface lasers which need 100 times larger arrays and more power to function. BIC lasers can easily be tuned to emit beams of different wavelengths which would make them useful for medical lasers made to target certain cancer cells without normal tissue getting damaged and they can also be made to emit beams in different shapes such as a spiral, donut, or bell curve. This is because BICs are waves “that remain perfectly confined, or bound, in an open system”, and unlike conventional waves which escape in open systems, BICs stay localized and don't escape even if they have pathways to do so.

Discussion:

The topic of BIC lasers will likely revolutionize surface lasers and after reading this article I don't think it would be wrong to predict that these types of lasers are going to be dominating the medical and military fields. I believe that this is a positive topic and will be a positive change in the future which will impact everyone's lives.  This is because lasers and light sources have become very common to use these days and BICs are more compact and energy-efficient for communications and computing applications as compared to standard lasers. What makes them special is that they have different wavelengths which will help in the medical field, especially for cancer removal surgeries, because BICs decrease the chances of hitting a non cancerous tissue, which I find a very good thing.  It will probably take a while until BICs start getting used because the still has to figure out how to make BIC lasers that are electrically powered rather than optically powered by another laser, but once this problem is solved, I believe that BICs will greatly impact our lives.

Works cited:

New Laser Based on Unusual Physics Phenomenon Could Improve Telecommunications, Computing -- ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 Jan. 2017, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170111132758.htm. Accessed 19 Jan. 2017.