Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced Monday the successful development of a prototype of China's first micro-photonic radar and the first image obtained from the system, with a higher resolution than international standards. 

Radar can achieve all-day, all-weather detection and imaging of targets, which allows it to have a wide range of military and civilian applications. 

Traditional radars use electrons as the carrier to generate and process signals, so its resolution quality and processing speed are limited due to broadband restrictions of electronic components. They can hardly satisfy the modern demand for radar now. 

China's first microphotonic radar: (a) dark room test (b) outside field test (c) jet and outside field / CAS Photo

However, a micro-photonic radar – using as its carrier photons, a particle that theoretically has zero rest mass and always moves at the speed of light within a vacuum – is able to generate and process signals much faster and better than conventional ones. 

The new radar is said to have the features of fast-imaging, high resolution and clear identification of targets. 

The research team leader Li Wangzhe from the Institute of Electronics at CAS said that the prototype has passed laboratory testing and has quickly formed an image of a fast moving Boeing 737 jet, showing details such as wings and engines. 

(a) and (b): data and image of a Boeing 737 jet; (c) and (d): data and image obtained from international radar currently known /CAS Photo

According to Li, this radar has the highest resolution among all the micro-photonic radars currently known, and is even 30 times higher than similar radars worldwide. 

Since micro-photonic radar is able to identify targets with details in a short time, the technology could prove significant in warfare.