Kenichi Iga and the Invention of VCSELs
Kenichi Iga and the Invention of VCSELs
Context: Kenichi Iga, a Japanese physicist and former president of Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo), is celebrated as the pioneer of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). His breakthrough transformed laser technology, enabling compact, efficient, and mass-producible semiconductor lasers that today power everyday devices and advanced communication systems.
What are VCSELs?
- VCSELs are micron-sized semiconductor laser chips that emit light vertically through the surface, unlike conventional lasers that emit from the sides.
- Structure: Made by sandwiching a thin semiconductor cavity between two parallel mirrors.
- Advantages:
- Emit uniform, round beams of a single wavelength.
- Extremely compact (more than 100 VCSELs can fit in 1 mm²).
- Low power consumption and easy to mass-produce.
Significance of VCSELs:
-
Telecommunications:
Enabled short-distance fibre-optic links, laying the foundation for fast LANs and the Internet boom.
-
Consumer Electronics:
- Smartphones: Used in 3D facial recognition (30,000+ VCSELs map facial contours).
- Optical Mice & Printers: Laser-powered precision.
- Robotic Devices: Navigation and sensing.
-
Data Centres:
High-speed optical communication for cloud computing and AI infrastructure.
-
Emerging Applications:
- Autonomous Vehicles: Lidar and sensing systems.
- Atomic Clocks: Precision timing.
- Hazard Detection: Gas sensors and environmental monitoring.
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