#laser technology

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A LOOK AT '80s LASER GRIDS -- AN ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE THAT NEVER WAS.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on asssorted, unnamed '80s decade cyber grid art pieces, and a so-called "ubiquitous symbol of 1980s graphic design." Various artists.

MINI-OVERVIEW: "The 80s grid is a truly ubiquitous element, a powerful visual cliche symbol of the whole decade. Looking at retro 80s graphics, advertisements, videogames and film, it is striking how the laser grid is found over and over again.

A central vanishing point, dark background, a grid of thin lines in primary colours; optionally, the sun setting behind mountains. The look of the laser grid follows a precise set of rules and principles while appearing in many variations. It creates a futuristic atmosphere, a space of possibility for the technological future people imagined forty years ago.

The 80s was a time of political tension and Cold War, paired with mass consumption and optimism for technology and a computer-driven society. This is what the 80s light grid incorporates, creating a futuristic space of possibility, and describing a future that never was."

-- INDIEGROUND, "From Kubrick to Vaporwave: A Brief History of the '80s Grid," published August 4, 2022

Tiny laser created using nanoparticles

Researchers at Aalto University, Finland are the first to develop a plasmonic nanolaser that operates at visible light frequencies and uses so-called dark lattice modes.

The laser works at length scales 1000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. The lifetimes of light captured in such small dimensions are so short that the light wave has time to wiggle up and down only a few tens or hundreds of times. The results open new prospects for on-chip coherent light sources, such as lasers, that are extremely small and ultrafast.

The laser operation in this work is based on silver nanoparticles arranged in a periodic array. In contrast to conventional lasers, where the feedback of the lasing signal is provided by ordinary mirrors, this nanolaser utilizes radiative coupling between silver nanoparticles....