First Silicon Laser

An anonymous reader writes "Since the creation of the first working laser, scientists have fashioned them from substances ranging from neon to sapphire. Silicon was not considered a candidate, because its structure wouldn't allow for the proper line-up of electrons needed to get this semiconductor to emit light. That has now changed thanks to three researchers at Brown University who have created the first directly pumped silicon laser by drilling billions of holes in a small bit of silicon using a nanoscale template."