Research Projects

Nanoscale Architecture for Coherent Hyper-Optic Sources (NACHOS)

Eli Yablonovitch, Yueming Qiu¹, Oskar J. Painter² and Axel Schrerer³

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Nanoscale lasers will enable close integration of photonic and electronic devices needed in emerging high-speed processing-intense computing and communication platforms. In addition to reduced size, these lasers are expected to be power efficient and offer unprecedented modulation bandwidth. New capabilities, such as the ability to place large numbers of lasers on silicon chips, will be enabled by these devices. The objective of the NACHOS program is to demonstrate subwavelength semiconductor lasers by combining media with reduced dimensionality and advanced feedback concepts. The specific program goal is to demonstrate injection lasers operating CW at room temperature with cavity dimensions smaller than the vacuum wavelength of light they generate, wavelength < 1.5 microns.

¹California Institute of Technology
²California Institute of Technology
³California Institute of Technology