South China Morning Post reports that Chinese researchers have manufactured the world’s largest barium gallium selenide crystal (BGSe), a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high power laser weapons capable of disabling satellites from the ground. The synthetic crystal, measuring 60 millimeters in diameter, efficiently converts short-wave infrared lasers into mid- to far-infrared beams which can penetrate atmospheric windows for long-distance transmission. It can withstand laser power as intense as 550 megawatts per square centimeter, which exceeds the damage threshold of existing military-grade crystals by an order of magnitude.
The BGSe crystal was discovered by Chinese scientists in 2010 and has shocked the world with its unprecedented performance. According to SCMP, Western defense contractors tried to replicate it but have struggled with scalability. Now Chinese scientists have indicated how they achieved this advance in materials science. The technology was developed at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science.
