Support for IEEE Photonics Society Winter Topical Meeting on Nanolasers, Jan 11-13, 2010

Spurred by rapid progress in Nanotechnology and the demand of integrated photonic applications, the field of semiconductor lasers is currently experiencing an unprecedented pace of miniaturization. Many diverse ideas and novel approaches in realizing smaller and smaller lasers have been investigated and proposed by researchers with different backgrounds and from different fields. These include nanowire lasers, nanopillar lasers, micro and nano-disk lasers, photonic crystal lasers, plasmonic lasers with integrated semiconductor-metal structures. Semiconductor Nanolasers using semiconductor materials as gain media refer to lasers that measure sub-wavelength in one or two space dimensions. It is expected that soon lasers measured in subwavelength in all three space dimensions are possible. While these ideas are currently explored in different subfields by researchers with different backgrounds, it is high time to bring these researchers into a single platform where experiences could be shared and different ideas could cross-fertilize. The annual LEOS Topical Meeting provides an ideal forum. In addition, 2010 marks the 40th birthday of lasers and it is fitting to celebrate the birthday with the launch of a LEOS Topical Meeting on Nanolasers, representing the new frontier of lasers.