Silicon laser is hot these days. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, John Bowers and his students, Alex Fang and Hyundai Park have developed a novel laser by bonding optical gain layers directly to a silicon laser cavity. This hybrid laser offers an alternative to silicon Raman lasers and is an order of magnitude shorter. The laser is optically pumped, operates in continuous wave mode, and only needs 30 mW of input pump power.