Printed photonic crystal mirrors shrink on-chip lasers down to size

Electrical engineers at The University of Texas at Arlington and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised a new laser for on-chip optical connections that could give computers a huge boost in speed and energy efficiency. The team published its findings on July 22, 2012 in Nature Photonics . At just 2 micrometers in height – smaller than the width of a human hair – the surface-emitting laser's vastly lower profile could make it cheaper and easier for manufacturers to integrate high-speed optical