New Laser Technique Revolutionizes Ultra-High Ceramic Manufacturing for Spacecraft

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique that uses lasers to create ceramics that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, with applications ranging from nuclear power technologies to spacecraft and jet exhaust systems.

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

A new technique that leverages the concept of sintering, can be used to create ceramic coatings, tiles or complex three-dimensional structures, which allows for increased versatility when engineering new devices and technologies.

“Sintering is the process by which raw materials - either powders or liquids - are converted into a ceramic material,” says Cheryl Xu, co-corresponding author of a paper on this research and a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). “For this work, we focused on an ultrahigh temperature ceramic called hafnium carbide (HfC). Traditionally, sintering HfC requires placing the raw materials in a furnace that can reach temperatures of at least 2,200 degrees Celsius - a process that is time-consuming and energy intensive.