A laser that can fire light pulses in one billionth of a second is set to produce structures 1000 times stronger, 1000 times faster — novel technique has applications for high-performance computing, quantum devices, and AI chip cooling

• Heat flow is altered inside chip components instead of removed after buildup
• Phonon motion is limited through nanoscale surface patterning
• Ultrafast lasers enable nanoscale patterning at industrially relevant speeds

Today, most electronics rely on heat sinks, fans, or liquid cooling because the components inside chips conduct heat in fixed ways.

A new method designed by Japanese researchers lets engineers control how fast heat escapes from a material, rather than just trying to remove heat after it builds up.

The work describes a laser-based fabrication method that modifies how heat moves through thin silicon and silica films by directly shaping their surfaces at the nanoscale.