New semiconductor maser operates continuously above room temperature
Researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg have developed the first semiconductor maser capable of operating continuously at room temperature. This breakthrough uses silicon carbide to overcome previous limitations that required extreme cooling.
Why it matters
Practical, room-temperature masers could revolutionize fields like data transmission and metrology, similar to how lasers transformed modern technology.
by Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source The maser principle: A laser excites quantum spin state in the semiconductor silicon carbide. In combination with a magnetic field and a resonator, this produces coherent microwave radiation—the basis of the world's first semiconductor maser. Credit: Andreas Gottscholl & Andreas Sperlich / Universität Würzburg Lasers have become indispensable in everyday life and research, with applications ranging from data transmission and metrology to manufacturing. Masers, by contrast, have so far found hardly any practical applications.
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