Chinese Researchers Break Deep-Ultraviolet Crystal Barrier, Aiming to Reshape GPS Reliance

In a milestone breakthrough for materials science, a research team from the Xinjiang Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has designed a new fluorinated borate crystal structure with a minimum phase-matching frequency-doubling wavelength of just 145.2 nanometers. This achievement marks the first time a material has successfully surpassed the critical 148.3 nm threshold required for the development of the “229Th nuclear clock.” Led by Professors Pan Shilie and Yang Zhihua, the team utilized a fluorination regulation design principle to simultaneously optimize three traditionally conflicting core properties: ultra-wide bandgap, short phase-matching wavelength, and high frequency-doubling…