ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The laser is so small you need a microscope to see it properly. But it’s not just the size that scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are excited about.
The buzz is that the laser can now be combined with other microscale optical devices to make self-driving cars safer, data centers more efficient, biochemical sensors more portable, and radars and other defense technologies more versatile.
Sandia has been awarded a patent for its new method of integrating many different materials onto silicon — the same starting material semiconductor fabrication plants use to make microchips.