The rise of nanometers

After discussing with Academician Wang and others at the Wenchang launch site for a long time, Huang Xiuyuan placed the stand-in robot in a special escort convoy, and the people exited the virtual system.

In the first scientific research area of ​​Shanmei headquarters.

He came to Laboratory 06 of Research Institute 155.

Recently, Huang Xiuyuan has been working in this laboratory. The research project of this laboratory is laser crystal, that is, solid laser.

China is actually in a relatively leading position in the research and development of solid-state lasers. The KBBF (potassium fluoroboroberyllate) crystal developed by Academician Chen Chuangtian is a special material that has been strictly controlled in China for a long time.

KBBF crystal is a nonlinear optical crystal material that can convert other light waves into deep ultraviolet light. It has important applications in electron microscopes and lithography machines.

Huang Xiuyuan plans to develop a very important laser crystal in the future - CSi nanocrystal, which was also developed by a future domestic academician. This crystal is a material similar to KBBF crystal, but there are some differences between the two. the difference.

KBBF is specifically used to excite deep ultraviolet light in the 167 nm band, while CSi nanocrystals are specifically used to excite far-infrared light.

In laser weapons, visible light and short wavelength are usually not used, but far-infrared light in long wavelength is mostly used.

CSi nanocrystals are specially designed for laser weapons. From the name of CSi nanocrystals, you can know that its raw materials are carbon and silicon, and the process is nanotechnology.

From the high resonance effect of near-infrared light of gold nanorods, we can know that the same substance, the amorphous form and special nanostate of gold, have very different resonance effects on specific light waves.

Similarly, ordinary carbon crystals and silicon crystals are not high-quality laser materials.

But through the adjustment of nanotechnology, Huang Xiuyuan rearranged the nanostructures of carbon and silicon to form two special nanostructures.

One is a carbon 24 molecule, which is composed of two 12-sided superpositions. Then, these carbon 24 molecules are combined through a special process to form a carbon molecule film.

The other is to form silicon into triangular silicon molecules. These triangular silicon must have one characteristic, that is, the three internal angles of the triangle, and the angles must be 27, 54, and 99.

Then fill the triangular silicon into the carbon film, and continuously stack the carbon film thickness until the film thickness reaches 17 mm, which can be used as an excitation crystal for solid-state lasers.

The reason why Huang Xiuyuan attaches great importance to this kind of crystal is because this kind of crystal can not only stimulate far-infrared light, but CSi nanocrystals also have another advantage, that is, the electro-optical conversion efficiency is extremely high, reaching an astonishing 96.8%.

At present, in the research and development of laser field around the world, the electro-optical conversion efficiency of various types of lasers is uneven, ranging from 1% to 80%.

For example, fiber lasers, ytterbium-doped semiconductor-pumped fiber lasers (pump wavelength 980 nm), have lower quantum losses (i.e., the difference between pump energy and generated energy) than neodymium-doped YAG diode pump lasers (pump wavelength 808 nm).

The electro-optical conversion efficiency of fiber lasers is usually 70% to 80%; pumped YAG is only about 4%; semiconductor pumped YAG and disk lasers are about 40%; the photoelectric conversion efficiency of carbon dioxide gas lasers is also only About 10%.

Most of the current laser weapons are carbon dioxide lasers as long-range laser weapons. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of about 10% shows the shortcomings of this laser.

For every 1 kilowatt of laser energy emitted, 9 kilowatts of electrical energy are wasted as waste heat and line losses.

This not only wastes electrical energy, but also increases the difficulty of power supply and makes it difficult to increase the laser power.

CSi nanocrystals are actually fiber lasers in solid-state lasers.

The reason why fiber lasers have such high electro-optical conversion efficiency is because the laser is always contained in the fiber crystal, so there are no other factors that cause laser loss in the laser cavity.

In the past, it was difficult to make fiber lasers large, and at most they were the size of a laser pointer.

CSi nanocrystals have changed this defect and can be made very large. By expanding the area and increasing the thickness of CSi nanocrystals, the output power can be increased and the degree of laser condensation can be improved.

On the experimental table in front of Huang Xiuyuan, there is a cylindrical CSi nanocrystal with a radius of 5 centimeters and a length of 10 decimeters.

Several experimental assistants carefully held the crystal and installed it in the laser that had been prepared in advance.

Other power supply lines of the laser use the recently developed zero-point superconductor, after the cooling system cools the temperature to minus five degrees Celsius.

Huang Xiuyuan ordered: "Get ready to start the laser test."

"clear."

The wall on one side of the laboratory slowly opened, revealing a testing field.

Under the operation of the researcher, a target was raised in the test field with the mark: 100m.

When the researcher pressed the launch button of the laser, an invisible and colorless far-infrared light from the three-meter-long laser directly hit the center of the target.

In less than 0.2 seconds, a fist-sized melted hole appeared on the 0.5 cm thick iron target.

Huang Xiuyuan calmly ordered: "Change the target."

"yes."

The researcher also changed a wooden target, and it was instantly penetrated by the laser.

Next, they tried glass, plastic, ceramics, reflective materials, composite materials, etc. The laser penetrated these targets one by one through frequency modulation.

Then there is the distance test, which shows that the longest distance can be tested is 350 meters. This distance is easily accessible for far-infrared lasers.

Huang Xiuyuan estimated that according to the current test data, this laser should be able to achieve rapid destruction of about 500 kilometers in the atmosphere. As for the specific shooting distance, further testing is needed.

If the distance is too far, scattering will occur and the power will gradually decrease.

But Huang Xiuyuan is interested in the high conversion efficiency of CSi nanocrystals. When combined with zero-point superconductors, the overall energy utilization rate will be very high.

If the electrical energy of a carbon dioxide laser is used to power a CSi nanocrystal laser, it can produce about 10 times the laser output.

The emergence of this CSi nanocrystal has, to a certain extent, brought lasers from science fiction into reality.

Within the atmosphere, all advantages cannot be demonstrated, but when entering outer space, the high conversion efficiency of CSi nanocrystal lasers will exert the greatest effect.

It can not only be used in laser weapons, but also in spacecraft heat dissipation and ion engines.

The ultra-high electro-optical conversion efficiency can convert part of the waste heat into electrical energy, which can then be emitted through the laser to solve the problem of inefficient radiation heat dissipation of spacecraft.

The problem of spacecraft heat dissipation is also a problem for laser applications in outer space.

If old-fashioned carbon dioxide lasers are used, 90% of the electrical energy will eventually become waste heat, and then continue to accumulate inside the spacecraft, causing thermal overload of the spacecraft, causing serious problems, and may even directly lead to the scrapping of the spacecraft.

The efficient CSi nanocrystals, if coupled with a thermoelectric power generation system, can basically reduce 98% of laser waste heat, making it possible to equip lasers in outer space.

Similarly, on the ion engine, the related technology in this laser can actually be applied.

Or directly using laser light sail thrusters can also achieve high specific impulse, allowing the spacecraft to continuously accelerate in the sky.

CSi nanocrystals are such a versatile material.

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