중국군은 옷가방크기의 장치를 써서 적국의 미사일을 무력화시키는 놀라운 무기를 선보인다

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중국군은 옷가방크기의 장치를 써서 적국의 미사일을 무력화시키는 놀라운 무기를 선보인다

Chinese military could soon disable sensors on enemy missiles using suitcase-sized device after 'groundbreaking' study on ultrafast lasers By Stephen Chen Sep 30, 2015 - 4:00:12 AM

Chinese military could soon disable sensors on enemy missiles using suitcase-sized device after 'groundbreaking' study on ultrafast lasers

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 1:31pm

UPDATED : Thursday, 24 September, 2015, 11:28am

Stephen Chen binglin.chen@scmp.com

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중국해군이 일본해에서 러시아군과 합동작전을 펼친다  The Chinese destroyer Wuhan leads a fleet of naval ships ahead of a joint exercise with Russia in the Sea of Japan. At present, high-frequency lasers used to tackle missiles are the size of huge containers. Photo: AP

놀라운 레이저 기술로 중국군은 적국미사일의 센서체계를 무력화시키는 능력을 무장했다. 이것은 옷가방 정도의 크기로 갖고다니는 장치인데, 위성을이용해서 이런 작용을한다.

리 지유안 중국 과학아카데미, 물리학연구소 교수는 고주파수 레이저를 발생시키는 정교한 장치를 크리스털 단 하나의 조각으로 줄이는데 성공했다고 밝혔다. 이는 초 고속 레이저 발생기가 열을 추구하는 미사일들을 소용없게만든다는 의미이다. 또 오늘날 전함에서 이용되며 또 손가방크기로 작아졌기에 항공기나 전차, 보병도 사용할 수있다는 것이다.

A breakthrough in laser technology may give the Chinese military the ability to blind the sensors on enemy missiles or even satellites using a portable device the size of a suitcase, rather than the large container-sized version typically found on warships.

A research team led by Professor Li Zhiyuan with the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics reported that they had reduced the sophisticated mechanism that generates a high-frequency laser down to a single piece of crystal.

This means the huge ultrafast laser generator that is used to render heat-seeking missiles useless, and which can be found on warships today, could be shrunk to the size of hand baggage and mounted on aircraft, tanks or even soldiers.

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"This is a groundbreaking achievement," said a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, who requested that his name not be used due to the sensitivity of the issue.

People's Liberation Army tank regiments are shown at Tiananmen Square in Beijing during a huge military parade on September 3. The new breakthrough could facilitate the laser technology being fitted to tanks like these. Photo: Kyodo

과거에 어느누구도 크리스털 수준에서 고주파수 레이저를 발생시킬 수없었다고 교수는 말한다.

이것은 초고속 레이저로써 놀랄만큼 작은 장치로 줄어드는 쾌거를 이뤘다.

"Nobody has generated a laser at such a high frequency on a single piece of crystal before,” added the professor, who was not involved in the research.

“Their technology will significantly simplify the process of ultrafast laser production and reduce the size of relevant devices."

Part of the team’s research was detailed in the latest issue of the journal Physical Review Letters, which is run by the American Physical Society.

Since the invention of laser technology, scientists have been trying to increase the frequency of laser beams by reducing their wavelength. The higher the frequency, the more energy can be carried by photons.

A typical ultrafast laser device generates pulses as short as one quadrillionth of a second. Despite decades of development, however, their use has been mostly restricted to research laboratories, and eye surgery, because of the level of cost and sophistication involved.

READ MORE: Beijing military parade a 'bikini show' of China's technology but sensitive parts were hidden, expert says

The USS Ponce tests a laser weapons system in this 2012 handout photo from the US Navy. Photo: AFP

Nonetheless, many countries have been racing to develop the technology for military applications.

The US Navy, for instance, reportedly commissioned a research project in 2012 to develop an ultrafast laser system to blind the infrared sensor on missiles.

This is based on the logic that it is much easier to use high-energy photons to attack a sensor than depend on a laser to destroy the thick metallic shell of a missile.

Apart from inflicting damage on enemy targets, ultrafast lasers can also serve as a handy tool to deal with encrypted communications and detect stealth aircraft.

However, the prototypes for military applications proved cumbersome and heavy.

While researchers developed various ways of making high frequency laser beams, such as using purified gas or multiple crystals, they all required the device to be set up in a large room with delicate components that are vulnerable to external disturbances such as shaking.

Chinese navy soldiers and officers aboard the missile destroyer Haikou stand in formation as the warship arrives at Naval Base San Diego in the United States on August 10, 2014. Photo: Xinhua

Li's team claim to have solved this problem. They developed a special crystal with lithium and niobium that can convert a normal laser beam into high frequency waves as short as 350 nanometres, or three times faster than the ultrafast system in use today.

The technology “hints at a very promising means for greatly expanding the power” of laser technology, the team said in their paper.

The Tsinghua professor said the biggest challenge was the loss of energy in the frequency conversion process.

"The larger the laser system, the more serious the energy loss," he said.

The conversion efficiency of Li's crystal was 18 per cent, which meant more than 80 per cent of the energy would be lost.

But the professor said that the rate of efficiency was still "very high" for an ultrafast laser system.

"If they can achieve the efficiency they claim, I think their technology can be quickly deployed in field applications," he said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Portable laser device may help PLA blind enemy missiles' sensors

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