A research breakthrough in Canberra may lead to faster, lighter and cheaper computers within 15 years.

A team of researchers at the Australian National University Research School of Physics and Engineering have made the first room-temperature lasers from nanowires.

PhD student Dhruv Saxena says laser technology is not used in electronics currently on the market.

"The wires and lasers will lead to much faster, much lighter computers because light travels much faster than electrons, allowing us to process data much faster," he said.

"The lasers in use at the moment often require a lot of processing steps to produce a nice cavity and mirrors in order to emit laser light."

Mr Saxena says it is a hot topic that has been widely researched over the past decade.

"The field is moving very fast and this is a global issue because making computers smaller and smaller is not going to work," he said.

"We have to think of new designs for future computers that will continue this technological revolution of increased computing power, faster and lighter and slimmer devices."

Nanowires 'grown' in a lab

Computer graphic: the lasers are made using gallium arsenide nanowires. ( Supplied: Australian National University )

The nanowires are only several billionths of a metre in diameter and are less bulky than existing electric technology.

Australian Research Council Super Science Fellow Sudha Mokkapati says the wires are "grown" in the lab.

"We have a substrate covered in gold particles which acts as catalysts or seeds," she said.

"We provide gases containing gallium and arsenic and raise the temperature of the substrate up to 750 degrees Celsius."

At those extremely high temperatures, the elements react and nanowires start growing.

"The ends of the nanowire are like tiny mirrors that bounce light back and forth along the wire and the gallium arsenide amplifies it," Ms Mokkapati said.

"After a certain threshold, we get laser light."

Room temperature milestone

Professor Chennupati Jagadish, who leads the research, says the lasers are some of the smallest in the world.

"The smaller the lasers the faster we can switch them on and off, so we can send information much faster," he said.

"Particularly when you are dealing with computer chips and when you are making electronic devices smaller, the resistance of the metals which are being used to communicate between transistors becomes very large.

"This is becoming a real bottle-neck for the speed at which we are able to transfer information between the computer chips and within the computer chips.

"That's where people are looking for optical sources because light can travel much faster."

Professor Jagadish says while other nanowires have been developed, they have only been able to operate at lower temperatures.

"Low temperatures mean we won't be able to use it in day-to-day applications so that's why making these lasers to work at room temperature is a significant milestone," he said.

He says the nanowires may also be used as transistors.

"Currently transistors are horizontally located but by using these nanowires we can make these transistors be vertically oriented, which means we'll be able to pack more of the transistors into the same chip which will also help us be able to do more functions with the same chip," he said.