According to reports, Chinese researchers have created a cutting-edge cooling mechanism that can boost lasers' power over longer distances without causing them to overheat.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Chinese researchers have made a "major breakthrough" in high-energy laser technology. Chinese lasers will now be able to work “forever” thanks to an improved cooling mechanism that effectively removes the accumulated waste heat. Researchers predict that this development could increase the range and power of high-energy laser weapons.
Scientists at the National University of Defense Technology in Hunan province produced the finding that solved an important technological problem in the creation of laser weapons.
High Energy Lasers
This could mean that high-energy lasers can now produce continuous and highly effective laser beams thanks to new technologies.
The researchers, led by laser weapons scientist Yuan Shengfu, say their achievement is "a major breakthrough in improving the performance of high-energy laser systems" in a study published Aug. "High-quality beams are not only produced in the first second, but can be maintained indefinitely," the researchers said.
According to reports, the new cooling system uses "advanced structures" and optimized gas flow to remove heat from the laser while reducing turbulence and vibration. It also helps keep the laser gun's focusing mirrors clean.
"Since the invention of the first ruby laser in 1960, people have been enthusiastic about switching from kinetic energy to laser energy for rapid projection of energy at the speed of light and dreamed of laser beams being 'death beams' that could kill targets instantly," Yuan and colleagues said. “Unfortunately, the application of high-energy laser systems has not been successful,” he continued, although many different types of lasers have been developed over the past 60 years.
The US has made some significant advances in the past, with some notable examples of high-energy lasers such as the Navy's Advanced Chemical Laser (NACL), the Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), and the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL).
However, they were abandoned or shelved because they were “too big and heavy”. The SCMP explained that the underlying cause may be more to do with their relatively weak destruction capabilities.
Chinese experts said that these attempts were abandoned because the expected level of destruction could not be reached. The effective range of the weapons is also only a few kilometers, due to the build-up of heat during operation. To counter this, Yuan's team created a small and effective inner beam path modifier. Gas is blown through the gun by the system to increase gas cleanliness and reduce waste heat. It also aims to reduce size and weight while maximizing gas flow.
Advanced lasers from China
An air source, a heat exchanger, a gas flow control system and a gas injection/suction system are some of the essential parts of the system. The system takes clean and dry air from the air source and the heat exchanger cools the air to the desired temperature so it can theoretically work continuously.
Source: scmp.com/news/china/science
📩 14/08/2023 15:23