University professors and companies in Japan will see the fruits of their joint labours later this year when the first quantum-dot lasers hit the market.

It was not possible to make quantum dot lasers back in the 1980s so Yasuhiko Arakawa, an electrical engineer at the University of Tokyo, focused on the theory of these devices instead. By the mid-1990s, however, experimental techniques had improved to the extent that Arakawa and, independently, researchers at Fujitsu were able to grow the first indium arsenide (InAs) quantum dots by metal–organic chemical vapour deposition.

Since this breakthrough, Arakawa, Fujitsu and a variety of other researchers and companies have been funded by the Japanese government to develop a range of new technologies based on quantum dots. For example, as part of the Center of Excellence for Nano Quantum Information Electronics, the University of Tokyo has opened joint laboratories with four companies — Sharp, Hitachi, NEC and Fujitsu — at its Komaba research campus. Government support was essential to maintain research in these areas after the telecommunications bubble burst earlier this decade.

Arakawa and Fujitsu have now created the world's first high-speed quantum dot laser. As well as being able to reach speeds of 10 gigabits per second, it can operate across a temperature range of 20–70 °C without the need to adjust the electrical input and with minimal fluctuations in the laser output. The laser, which is expected to reach the market in July, has already won awards from the Wall Street Journal and the Japanese prime minister.

Arakawa remembers it was not easy to convince companies and funding managers that quantum-dot lasers had a commercial future. “The most important thing was to share visions and enthusiasm,” he says, “and to establish strong channels between researchers and also with the decision-makers in top management. Without the support of top management, one would need much more energy and time and still be unsuccessful sometimes.”