Semiconductor nanowire lasers

The discovery and continued development of the laser has revolutionized both science and industry. The advent of miniaturized, semiconductor lasers has made this technology an integral part of everyday life. Exciting research continues with a new focus on nanowire lasers because of their great potential in the field of optoelectronics. In this Review, we explore the latest advancements in the development of nanowire lasers and offer our perspective on future improvements and trends. We discuss fundamental material considerations and the latest, most effective materials for nanowire lasers. A discussion of novel cavity designs and amplification methods is followed by some of the latest work on surface plasmon polariton nanowire lasers. Finally, exciting new reports of electrically pumped nanowire lasers with the potential for integrated optoelectronic applications are described. Recent research into semiconductor nanowire lasers has resulted in the advent of new materials, a broader wavelength selection and effective electrical pumping schemes, thereby bringing these nanoscale lasers much closer to application in fields like communications, computing, sensing and imaging.