The first of its kind represents a major advance breakthrough in so-called polariton lasers operating at room temperature.
What is Laser?
• A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.
• Major difference between laser and other sources of light is that, laser emits light coherently.
What is Polariton laser?
• Polariton laser works by passing photons back and forth between excited molecules.
• Unlike conventional lasers, the photons in Polariton laser are released and reabsorbed within the device itself before zooming out as laser light.
Key Facts:
• To develop the fluorescent Polariton laser, scientists had engineered barrel-shaped fluorescent proteins from jellyfish DNA.
• They had filled optical microcavities (between two mirrors) with this protein before subjecting them to optical pumping.
• Nanosecond flashes of blue light from an external laser were used to bring the system up to the required energy to create laser light.
• After the threshold was reached for polariton lasing, scientists pumped more energy into the device setup that resulted in conventional lasing.
Significance:
• These lasers have the potential to be far more efficient and compact than conventional ones.
• It could open up research avenues in quantum physics and optical computing. Consumes less energy compared to conventional lasers.
• It can be used for the purpose more efficient optical communications or in medical lasers that are less destructive to living tissue.