At the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of 2025 Zhongguancun Forum, the National Natural Science Foundation of China released the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2024, two major achievements in the field of optics - "Realization of large-scale optical computing Intelligent reasoning and training for large-scale optical computing chips" and 'Realization of nano-lasers with atomic-level feature scales and reconfigurable optical frequency phased arrays' were selected.
Ma Renmin and others at Peking University have successfully developed the singularity dielectric nano-laser, the smallest laser in mode size, advancing the feature size of laser intensity to the atomic level for the first time. A reconfigurable optical-frequency phased array was also constructed based on the laser, allowing the nano-laser array to generate reconfigurable arbitrary coherent excitation patterns. The achievement realizes the feature scale control and dynamic optical frequency reconfiguration of nano-lasers through atomic-level precision fabrication techniques. Its core advances include:
1. Atomic-scale fabrication: Using advanced nanofabrication techniques, the laser size is reduced to the atomic-level feature scale, which significantly improves the photon localization effect and device integration density.
2. Dynamic tunability: Realize dynamic tuning of optical frequency through phased array technology, support multi-band and multi-mode optical signal processing, and provide flexible light source solutions for optical communication and optical computing.
Significance and Importance:
The breakthrough of nano-lasers solves the technological bottleneck of traditional lasers in miniaturization and dynamic regulation, and provides a key device foundation for optical communications, quantum computing, and on-chip optical interconnects. For example, in optical communication, reconfigurable optical frequency technology can enhance channel capacity and anti-interference ability; in quantum systems, high-precision light source is the core to realize photonic quantum bit manipulation.
