Electronics

Disposable laser produced with inkjet printing tech

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Some of the inkjet-printed pixels (yellow) on a lasing capsule, with a coin for scale
Sanaur, et al/JAP
A diagram of an organic laser, incorporating one of the replaceable lasing capsules
Sanaur, et al/JAP
Some of the inkjet-printed pixels (yellow) on a lasing capsule, with a coin for scale
Sanaur, et al/JAP

Most of the lasers used in items such as DVD players or optical mice are inorganic. They last much longer than organic lasers (which utilize carbon-based materials to amplify light), but they're also comparatively expensive and complex to make, plus their range of wavelengths is limited. Developing more durable organic lasers would be one way of addressing the situation, but a European research team has come up with another – just make them really cheap and easily-replaceable.

Using an inkjet printer and a commercial ink mixed with dye, the scientists printed square pixels onto a quartz slide. Because inkjet printers can print so precisely into one tiny area, the slide didn't need to be masked off, and there was very little wastage of the ink/dye mix.

That slide is known as a "lasing capsule," and each of the pixels on it act as a gain medium when placed in an organic laser – the gain medium is what amplifies the light, and is also what typically degrades too quickly in regular organic lasers. While this particular type of gain medium isn't longer-lasting than others, the capsule that it's printed on can simply be pulled out from the rest of the laser and replaced as needed. It's likened to changing the blades in a razor.

A diagram of an organic laser, incorporating one of the replaceable lasing capsules
Sanaur, et al/JAP

The scientists believe that once production is ramped up, such lasing capsules could be manufactured for just a few cents each. Changing the color of the laser is as simple as using different colors of dyes. Ultimately, it is hoped that the technology could be used for sending data over short plastic fibers, and as a tool for analyzing chemical or biological samples.

The research was conducted by scientists from the University of Paris 13 and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne in France, and SEMILAB in Hungary. It is described in a paper that was recently published in the Journal of Applied Physics.

Source: American Institute of Physics

Most of the lasers used in items such as DVD players or optical mice are inorganic. They last much longer than organic lasers (which utilize carbon-based materials to amplify light), but they're also comparatively expensive and complex to make, plus their range of wavelengths is limited. Developing more durable organic lasers would be one way of addressing the situation, but a European research team has come up with another – just make them really cheap and easily-replaceable.

Using an inkjet printer and a commercial ink mixed with dye, the scientists printed square pixels onto a quartz slide. Because inkjet printers can print so precisely into one tiny area, the slide didn't need to be masked off, and there was very little wastage of the ink/dye mix.

That slide is known as a "lasing capsule," and each of the pixels on it act as a gain medium when placed in an organic laser – the gain medium is what amplifies the light, and is also what typically degrades too quickly in regular organic lasers. While this particular type of gain medium isn't longer-lasting than others, the capsule that it's printed on can simply be pulled out from the rest of the laser and replaced as needed. It's likened to changing the blades in a razor.

A diagram of an organic laser, incorporating one of the replaceable lasing capsules
Sanaur, et al/JAP

The scientists believe that once production is ramped up, such lasing capsules could be manufactured for just a few cents each. Changing the color of the laser is as simple as using different colors of dyes. Ultimately, it is hoped that the technology could be used for sending data over short plastic fibers, and as a tool for analyzing chemical or biological samples.

The research was conducted by scientists from the University of Paris 13 and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne in France, and SEMILAB in Hungary. It is described in a paper that was recently published in the Journal of Applied Physics.

Source: American Institute of Physics

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2 comments
butkus
Longevity is presented as a negative trait and an analogy with disposable razor blades is drawn. Makes it clear as a bell they are deliberately engineering a short life high margin product, which due to size and manufacturing cost will be the usual "too uneconomical to recycle".
Charles Barnard
Recycling such products merely needs a way to disassemble them to their chemical components, possibly by composting.
Despite the planned obsolescence of many disposable products, there is a very real need for cheap, recyclable equipment.
Recycling the 'natural way' means breaking it down to smallest components.
If the chemical engineers had been working properly, they would have developed the technology to break down plastics into their component hydrocarbons decades ago--the same kind of action which is done with crude oil to create various hydrocarbons we use commercially.
The recycling methods in use today are extremely crude, but are improving rapidly as there is now active work in the field.