ETH researchers have laid the foundations for the production of nanoscale LEDS and lasers with an unorthodox experiment setup. According to a press release issued by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), this led to the creation of an antenna for tiny light sources on a chip. These developments are the result of a collaborative effort between the Zurich-based research group, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in Dübendorf in the canton of Zurich and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Castelldefels near Barcelona.
Modern data transfer is based, among other aspects, on information being rapidly sent in the form of rays of light along fiber optic cables, as the ETH Zurich press release explains. The light sources are particularly demanding in technological terms. The new research work now forms the basis for the production of tiny, efficient light sources in the nano range. According to ETH Zurich, a surprising new antenna solution was found for these mini light sources through an unusual step in the setup of the experiment.
The ETH Zurich research group, which is headed up by Lukas Novotny, Professor of Photonics, is working on mini light sources that are based on the tunnel effect in accordance with the rules of quantum mechanics. Rather than placing the one-atom-thick layer of semiconductor material such as tungsten disulfide between the electrodes, as would usually be the case, the researchers actually positioned it above an electrode outside the tunnel junction. The semiconductor absorbed the energy generated in the tunnel junction before re-emitting it - similar to an antenna.
“For now, this antenna is not very good”, explains Professor Novotny, before adding: “Improving this will be our homework for the near future”. If it turns out to be possible to improve the efficiency of light emission through the semiconductor, in turn it should also be possible to produce light sources that are only a few nanometers in size – i.e. a thousand times smaller than the wavelength of the light they produce. “In any case, we have opened a door to new applications”, Novotny concludes. ce/gba
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