First Electrically Powered Organic Laser May Lead to More Widespread Use of Lasers for Various Applications
Murray Hill, NJ. Physicists at Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), have developed the first electrically powered organic laser, a breakthrough that may lead to more widespread use of lasers in various applications.
The organic laser, described in today s issue of Science, could be less expensive to manufacture than today s conventional inorganic semiconductor lasers. Previous organic lasers had been powered by light sources, such as other lasers, which can limit their applications. Electrically powered lasers are preferred because they are compact and can be integrated with complex electronic circuitry.
Because organic materials are less expensive than the inorganic semiconductor materials used in today s lasers, such as gallium arsenide, it may be possible to decrease production costs of individual lasers. Alternatively, it may be possible to have several hundred lasers -- as opposed to one -- for the same price in a machine, such as an optical storage device or laser printer, which would allow for more rapid access or display of stored information. To make the organic laser, Bell Labs scientist Christian Kloc first grew high-quality crystals of tetracene, which is an organic molecule with four connected benzene rings that conducts electricity well. When the researchers injected electric current to "excite" the tetracene to emit light, the light bounced back and forth between mirrors in the material, eventually producing beams of intense yellow-green light.
"Previously, researchers in the laser community thought organic materials would never be able to carry the large current necessary for electrically powered organic lasers," said Bertram Batlogg, head of Bell Labs solid state physics research department, who collaborated with Kloc, Hendrik Schon and Ananth Dodabalapur on the research. Tetracene, however, is among the purest organic semiconductors, which leads to the desired electrical properties needed for a laser. "The tetracene crystal remains transparent just before the intense beams of light are formed," Batlogg said, "which means very little light is absorbed, thereby enhancing the lasing effect."
"These research results open up a whole new set of possibilities for electrically driven lasers," said Federico Capasso, physical research vice president at Bell Labs. "They not only would be inexpensive to manufacture, but they could be tailor made to produce a wide range of wavelengths, each of which could have specific applications. They can be driven by today s silicon circuitry and may someday be combined with plastic transistors, which would further reduce production costs and potentially lead to lightweight, flexible products." Because the current configuration of the Bell Labs organic laser operates at a visible wavelength, it is not yet appropriate for optical communications.
Bell Labs is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. One of the most innovative R&D entities in the world, Bell Labs has generated more than 40,000 inventions since 1925. It has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies for most of the 20th century, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems.
Today, Bell Labs continues to draw some of the best scientific minds. With more than 30,000 employees located in 29 countries, it is the largest R&D organization in the world dedicated to communications and the world s leading source of new communications technologies. In a recent report, Technology Review magazine said Bell Labs patents had the greatest impact on telecommunications for 1999.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as broadband and mobile Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com or the Bell Labs Web site at http://www.bell-labs.com.
Contact: Lucent Technologies Steve Eisenberg Tel: 908/582-7474 seisenberg@lucent.com or Mike Jacobs Tel: 908/582-5330 mejacobs@lucent.com
Lucent Technologies
Steve Eisenberg
Tel: 908/582-7474
seisenberg@lucent.com
or
Mike Jacobs
Tel: 908/582-5330
mejacobs@lucent.com
E-mail: mejacobs@lucent.com
Web site: http://www.bell-labs.com
