Terahertz laser

A very interesting technological break-thru (article): room-temperature semiconductor source of coherent Terahertz radiation.

If I understand it correct it is a new kind of laser that can create coherent light of very very short wave lenght, helping the creation of better nanoscale objects and materials.

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Using lasers in the Terahertz spectral range, which covers wavelengths from 30 to 300å, has long presented a major hurdle to engineers. In particular, making electrically pumped room-temperature and thermoelectrically-cooled Terahertz semiconductor lasers has been a major challenge. These devices require cryogenic cooling, greatly limiting their use in everyday applications.

"By contrast, our device emits T-rays with several hundreds of nanowatts of power at room temperature and microwatts of power at temperatures easily achievable with commercially available thermoelectric coolers," says Belkin. "Further, there is the potential of increasing the terahertz output power to milliwatt levels by optimizing the semiconductor nanostructure of the active region and by improving the extraction efficiency of the terahertz radiation."
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