Physics Practical Magic

Scientists built a 'brain-on-a-chip' that processes info with light through tiny crystal wires instead of using electricity.

March 26, 2026

Original Paper

Colloidal Nanocrystals Regrowth-Assisted Synthesis of Perovskite Microwire Lasers for Integrated Optoelectronics

Elizaveta V. Sapozhnikova, Ivan A. Matchenya, Dmitry A. Tatarinov, Grigorii A. Verkhogliadov, Dmitry A. Semyonov, Maria A. Kirsanova, Natalia K. Kuzmenko, Julia S. Mironova, Arina O. Kalganova, Valeriya M. Levkovskaya, Stepan A. Baryshev, Yuxi Tian, Anatoly P. Pushkarev

arXiv · 2603.24285

The Takeaway

By growing tiny perovskite wires that act as both lasers and sensors, researchers created a device that mimics how human neurons communicate. This light-based system could lead to AI hardware that is exponentially faster and more energy-efficient than the silicon chips we use today.

From the abstract

Colloidal perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are a well-proven platform for growing anisotropic structures. Nanowires (NWs) exhibiting a quantum confinement phenomenon and microwires (MWs), which enable lasing, are of particular interest for optoelectronic devices. Synthesis of the latter is challenging. Herein, we report a straightforward access to high-quality CsPbBr3 MW lasers. We utilize a diphenyl ether (DPE) solvent for the hot-injection synthesis. DPE coordinates strongly to Pb2+ and allows to