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23h ago

China Unveils Record-Breaking 60 mm BGSe Crystal for High-Power Infrared Lasers

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences achieved the crack-free crystal via a decade-long process of vacuum-sealed refining in dual-zone furnaces followed by precise slow annealing as detailed in a June peer-reviewed paper.

Picture of the powerful lasers emerging from the new laser system on Unit Telescope 4 of ESO's Very Large Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory on Paranal Hill in Chile's Antofagasta Region
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Overview

  • The 60-millimeter barium gallium selenide crystal converts short-wave infrared beams into mid- to far-infrared wavelengths and withstands laser intensities up to 550 MW/cm².
  • China is evaluating the new BGSe material for ground-based laser systems capable of targeting satellites across atmospheric transmission windows.
  • Beyond military uses, the crystals promise improvements in medical diagnostics and hypersensitive infrared sensors for missile tracking and aircraft identification.
  • The findings were reported in June in the Chinese-language Journal of Synthetic Crystals by Wu Haixin’s team at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science.
  • Attempts by Western laboratories to grow similarly large BGSe specimens have so far fallen short, underscoring China’s lead in directed-energy research.