Nanolasers Beat the Diffraction Limit

Recently, a number of groups have reported a dramatic reduction in the minimum size of lasers, achieved via the use of metals to form the laser´s resonant cavity. These results dispel misconceptions that the minimum laser size is limited by diffraction and dielectric cavities. Furthermore, the use of metals allows an abundance of cavity designs, providing a rich research area, the possibility of new important applications for small highspeed lasers, and new flexible and efficient cherent light emitters.