Japanese researchers have developed a device that can produce the world’s shortest-wavelength laser, and a Nobel laureate predicts that this breakthrough will lead to dramatic changes in global manufacturing.
Lasers are used in precision equipment and instruments, including medical and manufacturing tools. According to a team of scientists from Nagoya University and Asahi Kasei, the shorter the laser wavelength, the more accurate the cut.
Researchers say they made a laser generator out of semiconductors. The device can generate a laser with a wavelength of 271.8nm (one nanometer is one billionth of a meter). The shortest wavelength before semiconductor equipment reported in 2008 was 336nm. The laser device is expected to be combined with a miniature endoscope and can be used for a variety of purposes.
“Miniature devices will revolutionize manufacturing around the world,” Hiroshi Amano, a professor of engineering at Nagoya University and a 2014 Nobel Prize winner in physics, said at a press conference.
The team developed a high-quality aluminum nitride substrate for the device, which reduced resistance. The shortest wavelength in the world is recorded at normal temperature, and the pulse current is 50 nanoseconds. The device currently only emits light for an extremely short period of time. The team plans to improve the device within a few years and plans to put it on the market in the future.
