A laser system invented by a team of researchers at Vienna University of Technology and Princeton University has demonstrated that when more power is added to the system, it turns off instead of becoming brighter.
The system is comprised of two lasers that are one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter and separated by a distance 50 times smaller than the size of the lasers. When electrical current is applied to one of the lasers, it begins to produce light. However, when the team added power to the other laser, the entire system turned off. The team found that the termination came from a precise distribution of energy loss in a system that is being amplified. This study of interference and “exception points” will allow researchers to manipulate gain or loss within a laser-based system.
Read more how this system demonstrated a new method to control the spatial distribution of gain and loss between two lasers.
