A new photonic device with a wide range of potential commercial applications can dramatically increase the capacity for optical data storage. It is called a plasmonic laser antenna and sports a design that consists of a metallic nanostructure integrated onto the facet of a commercial semiconductor laser.

The metallic nanostructure known as the optical antenna collects light from the laser and concentrates it to an intense spot that measures tens of nanometers or approximately one-thousandth the width of a single human hair. Since the device could be integrated into optical data storage platforms and used to write far smaller bits, a vastly increased storage capacity is possible.