Institute’s key role in exploring the universe
Print Edition
A KEY device on China’s Wukong satellite, which was launched in December on a mission to explore dark matter, the invisible material scientists say makes up most of the universe, was developed in Jiading District.
Shanghai Institute of Ceramics’ Bismuth-Germanate Calorimeter is composed of 308 bismuth germanate crystal bars consisting of 14 layers. Each bar is 2.5cm by 2.5cm in cross section and 60cm in length, making them the longest BGO crystals ever produced. Each crystal converts particle energy to photons at visible wavelengths and photomultiplier tubes coupled to the bars on each end detect the light impulses which are converted to electrical signals that can be digitized and recorded.
BGO crystals have been widely applied in fields of nuclear medicine, particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and oil well logging. But most of them are up to 40cm in length.
To research and develop 60cm long BGO bar was a real challenge.
A team led by Wang Shao-hua realized its manufacture and mass-production, making the Shanghai Institute the only supplier in the world of bars of such length. The institute’s manufacture base in Jiading has four production lines making crystals, generating 100 million yuan (US$15.31 million) last year.
NASA-funded science balloons launched in the Antarctica also adopted the institute’s BGO crystal bars.
Circling the pole, the balloons fly through the point where Earth’s magnetic fields descend to the ground. Instruments on the balloons observe the electrons traveling down from space along these fields.
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