This is the website for the EU funded H2020 research and innovation project GALACTIC. The goal of this project is to set up the European supply chain for space-qualified Alexandrite laser crystals.
Space-qualified Alexandrite crystals are now available from a solely European supply chain. GALACTIC has succeeded in bringing the laser crystals from TRL 4 to TRL 6. The project has ended on 30 April 2023. On…
In the European Horizon 2020 project GALACTIC, the partners Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH, Germany), Optomaterials S.r.l. (Italy) and Altechna (Lithuania) have now succeeded in establishing a solely European supply chain for alexandrite laser crystals,…
The GALACTIC team has already shown, that their crystals have reached competitiveness on the global market. At the conference Solid State Lasers XXXII: Technology and Devices of the Photonics West, Stefanie Unland, Laser Zentrum Hannover…
The team behind the GALACTIC project is well on track to reach its goal to develop reproducible, fully European-supplier-based functionally coated Alexandrite crystals that can be used in space. On 15 November 2022, the team…
Using a cavity-dumped Q-switched laser system, the GALACTIC team has compared their crystals with commercially available ones from major non-EU suppliers. GALACTIC's crystals showed high reproducibility, and laser performance as well as optical quality comparable…
At the EUROPHOTON conference GALACTIC presents an enhanced cavity-dumped Q-switched Alexandrite laser with CW double-pass diode pumping. The team has realized a highly efficient laser with a maximum output energy of more than 500 µJ…
At the Optical Interference Coatings 2022 conference from 19 to 24 June 2022, Laurynas Lukoševičius (Altechna Coatings, LT) will present findings regarding the optimized optical coating procedure for Alexandrite laser crystals. The poster “Investigation of…
At the PhoenixD Laser Day on 15 June 2022, Stefanie Unland of Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. will present the promising results accomplished with an enhanced cavity-dumped Q-switched Alexandrite laser with CW double-pass diode pumping. The…
After a pause of three years, the LASER – World of Photonics took place in Munich at the end of April 2022. A short video presented the GALACTIC project at the stand of the Laser…
On 17 January 2022, we again met online for the second periodic review meeting of the GALACTIC project. The course of the project is going very well so far. We have provided all set deliverables…
The European Union wants to use the unique properties of Alexandrite crystals in Earth observation satellites in the future. To make the EU independent of non-European suppliers, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Altechna Coatings,…
At the SPIE Laser Damage 2021 (12-15 October), Laurynas Lukoševičius of Altechna Coatings (LT) shall be presenting his latest work on Alexandrite laser crystal pretreatment. Watch his poster presentation on the ‘Development of alexandrite laser…
High-power applications in space place high demands on Alexandrite laser crystals. Therefore, they must be pretreated before coating to achieve the highest damage thresholds and lowest optical losses. At the SPIE Optical Systems Design Digital…
Complementing the poster presentation at the virtual International Conference on Space Optics (30 March – 02 April 2021), GALACTIC has now published the proceedings paper on “High performance Alexandrite crystals and coatings for high power…
The ICSO (30 March to 2 April 2021) is a bi-annual forum for technology and mission experts. Fostering the exchange about optical technologies for space missions, the virtual event is the perfect platform for presenting…
Join Peter Weßels of LZH at the SPIE Photonics West 2021 Digital Forum (06 - 11 March 2021) for the poster presentation “GALACTIC: High performance alexandrite crystals and coatings for high power space applications”. Alexandrite…
On 28 January 2021, we met online for the first periodic review meeting of the GALACTIC project. Despite the unusual situation due to the Corona pandemic we are well on track for setting up the…
Learn how the GALACTIC project's research will help Europe monitor the effects of climate change from space and better understand large-scale atmospheric dynamics. Space-based earth observation missions are an essential building block gaining the data…
A crystal named after Tsar Alexander II. may play a crucial role in atmospheric and Earth monitoring in the future. Laser systems in Earth observation satellites use solid-state laser media, such as neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum…
At today’s SPIE Laser Damage Digital Forum, Justinas Butkus of Altechna Coatings (LT) shall be presenting his latest work on Alexandrite laser crystal treatment and coatings. Join him via https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/laser-damage from 10:00 - 11:00 am…