Excited Light

I think the past 2005 is a big year for laser research community. Following is my list of top laser news:

1. Silicon lasers
   I had noticed three reports on this topics in the media: a) first cw all-silicon Raman laser by Intel researchers, Haisheng Rong et al; b) The Impossible Is Possible: Laser Light from Silicon by a Brown University research team led by Jimmy Xu; c) Hybrid Silicon Evanescent Laser by John Bowers and his students, Alex Fang and Hyundai Park at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Notably, all works have Chinese researcher involved.
2. The Nobel prize in Physics 2005
   was awarded to three scientists,Roy Glauber, John Hall and Theodor Haensch, for their work on optics and high precision measurements using lasers.
3. Laser fusion driver
   First, funding of NIF is continued (see FY 2006 DOE Appropriations Bill: Nuclear Weapons Programs); second, laser physicists in Europe have put forward plans to build a laser fusion fascility according to PhysicsWeb.

Happy new year to all of you who happen to visit this blog.