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2003 NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS
01.27.03 - NAS Researcher Scores Funding for Nanolaser Work
NAS Division researcher Cun-Zheng Ning, and Hou-Tee Ng of NASA Ames Research Center's Nanotechnology Branch, were among the winners of the Ames Directors' Discretionary Fund (DDF) for fiscal year 2003. The grant provides the financial support needed to begin conducting proposed research on Patterned Nanolaser Arrays as Building Blocks for Nano-Photonics Systems. The proposed nano-photonic devices will consume considerably less power, perform better, and achieve revolutionary functional densities -- all necessary to withstand extreme conditions in space.
Nanolasers are the smallest lasers constructed to date, with a diameter of just tens of nanometers -- commonly equated with one-thousandth the width of a single human hair. "The nanolasers we are proposing to simulate and grow could shrink revolutionary information processing and communication capabilities into a nanoscale package for future NASA space missions", says Ning.
Ning and Ng propose to combine computer simulation with experimental growth in order to get the best possible results. Drawing on their previous experience with modeling photonic devices, the team is confident they can develop a model for patterned nanolaser array structures. Extensive computer simulations will be used to determine or design the size and location of each individual laser in the patterned laser array. To grow the actual nanotubes and nanowires, the team will use a vapor-liquid-water growth technique modeled after that of a researcher group from the University of California, Berkeley .
This proposed work is important to the future of nano-photonic devices because this could be the first time anyone has successfully grown patterned nano-laser arrays important for many applications. The way nanowires are currently grown results in quality issues: there is no way to control where they grow, so the end result is random distribution over a two-dimensional substrate. In addition, the nanotubes quickly undergo mechanical deformation -- not lasting long enough to be useful.
The Ames Directors' Discretionary Fund was established to fund innovative research ideas not currently funded by existing research activities. Funding is allocated to selected projects for up to two years. By the end of 2004, Ning and Ng hope to have completed a computer simulation code for nano-laser array design and prototype patterned nano-laser arrays.
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NEWS ARCHIVE
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