KAIST develops 3D printing method to make ‘vertical nanolasers’

08 Jan 2026

Korean team from the Institute and POSTECH target high-density optical integrated circuits.

Technologies such as high-speed optical computing for massive AI, quantum cryptographic communication, ultra-high-resolution augmented reality (AR) displays, and nanolasers are gaining significant attention as core components for next-generation semiconductors.

Now a research team at KAIST, a science and technology university based in Korea, has come up with a new manufacturing process that achieves high-density placement of nanolasers on semiconductor chips.

KAIST announced on January 6th that a joint research team, led by Professor Ji Tae Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Junsuk Rho from POSTECH, has developed an ultra-fine 3D printing technology capable of creating “vertical nanolasers”, a key component for ultra-high-density optical integrated circuits.

The research results, with Dr. Shiqi Hu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering as the first author, were published in ACS Nano.

Conventional semiconductor manufacturing methods, such as lithography, are effective for mass-producing identical structures but face limitations: the processes are complex and costly, making it difficult to freely change the shape or position of devices. Furthermore, most existing lasers are built as horizontal structures lying flat on a substrate, which consumes significant space and suffers from reduced efficiency due to light leakage into the substrate.

To solve these issues, the research team developed a new 3D printing method to vertically stack perovskite, a next-generation semiconductor material that generates light efficiently. This technology, known as “ultra-fine electrohydrodynamic 3D printing”, uses electrical voltage to precisely control invisible ink droplets at the attoliter scale ($10^{-18}$ L).

‘Pillar-shaped’ nanostructures

Through this method, the team successfully printed pillar-shaped nanostructures—much thinner than a human hair—directly and vertically at desired locations without the need for complex subtractive processes.

The core of this technology lies in significantly increasing laser efficiency by making the surface of the printed perovskite nanostructures extremely smooth. By combining the printing process with gas-phase crystallization control technology, the team achieved high-quality structures with nearly single-crystalline alignment. As a result, they were able to realize high-efficiency vertical nanolasers that operate stably with minimal light loss.

Additionally, the team demonstrated that the color of the emitted laser light could be precisely tuned by adjusting the height of the nanostructures. Utilizing this, they created laser security patterns invisible to the naked eye — identifiable only with specialized equipment — confirming the potential for commercialization in anti-counterfeiting technology.

Prof. Jitae Kim commented, “This technology allows for the direct, high-density implementation of optical computing semiconductors on a chip without complex processing. It will accelerate the commercialization of ultra-high-speed optical computing and next-generation security technologies.”