A 'lifelike' laser can self-regulate, adjust its structure, and work together
By mimicking the features of living systems, self-regulating lasers can produce new materials for sensing, computing, light sources and displays. While many artificial materials have advanced properties, they still have a long way to go to incorporate the versatility and functionality of living materials that can adapt to their situation. Our laser systems can reconfigure and work together, enabling the first step to emulate the ever-evolving relationship between structure and functionality that is typical of living materials. Professor Riccardo Sapienza For example, in the human body, bones and muscles are constantly rearranging their structure and composition to better support changes in weight and activity levels. Now, researchers from Imperial College London and University College London have demonstrated the first spontaneously self-organizing laser device, which can reconfigure when conditions change. The innovation, reported in Nature Physics, will help enable the development o