Biggest damn crystal I've seen all day!

[buffo]

Check this out; they're making KDP (note, not KTP) crystals for the National Ignition Facility fusion research center. They figured out how to grow an 800 lb crystal in just 2 months! Crazy... (Link to video)

Adam

[thesk8nmidget]

OH MY!!


that is one big crystal! and its insane how it only took 2 months!

thanks for sharing!

[allthatwhichis]

That's a big chuck o crystal... but...

[drlava]

I think in the deformable resonator mirror video, they programmed it to create a smiley face aberration!

[Things]

One word, WOW!

That is a HUGE crystal!!!!

I wonder how they cut it? With lasers maybe??

[FrankenPC]

One word, WOW!

That is a HUGE crystal!!!!

I wonder how they cut it? With lasers maybe??

Good question...diamond coated bandsaw?

[drlava]

I think, like silicon wafers, they fracture it along the crystal plane, no mechanical cutting really done.

[tocket]

For you non-chemists out there, let me just say that growing crystals is no trivial matter. It is an art hard to master. Now, having said that... KDP is a fairly friendly material to crystallize, but hardly at that scale. Getting such a large monocrystal is very impressive and especially that fast. Even small disturbances could cause the crystallization to fail.

Would suck to have someone spill a cup of coffee on it though; KDP is highly water soluble.