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Published online 18 February 2009 | Nature 457, 953-955 (2009) | doi:10.1038/457953a
News Feature
Materials science: China's crystal cache
A Chinese laboratory is the only source of a valuable crystal. David Cyranoski investigates why it won't share its supplies.
One of Daniel Dessau's prized possessions is a small crystal of potassium beryllium fluoroborate (KBBF). Dessau, a solid-state physicist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, uses the crystal to convert the light of a US$100,000 laser into a deep ultraviolet, a good wavelength for studying the surface of superconductors.
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It's dogged that does it. ??????
To Dear Dr. Daniel Dessau, It should be noticed that this crystal is perhaps the only thing that the Chinese government can embargoed, compared with the long long list of embargoed materials and equipments in US and EU's hands. Do you ever heard the cry of Chinese scientists about their aborted experiments or research plan due to the embargo? The once existed Iron Curtain is well known, but the invisible semipermeable membrane currently hangs between west and east are almost unnoticed by the westerners: What I like I should have, what I don't want you have I don't give. It's really understandable, isn't it?
"When highly perturbed, as in the case of high-intensity lasers, the atoms can absorb the energy of the incoming light and re-emit the light" These crystals are primarily used for nonlinear processes such as 4th harmonic generation. This is not an absorption process like fluorescence and the word "absorb" should be avoided in the description