Pursuing Photon Sovereignty: China’s Advanced Light Source Breakout

Jimmy Goodrich and Jackson Martin

Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series from Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California

Abstract: Advanced scientific light sources are foundational research infrastructure for semiconductor manufacturing, biomedicine, energy storage, and nuclear weapons stewardship. This report examines China’s pursuit of “photon sovereignty” through the rapid expansion of a domestically controlled network of synchrotrons and X-ray free-electron lasers. Drawing on open sources, it identifies approximately sixteen operational light sources and at least twenty-one additional facilities under construction or active planning, with known investment in ongoing projects approaching $13 billion. This expansion is broadening China’s scientific capabilities, reducing dependence on foreign infrastructure, and increasing access to advanced facilities across universities, research institutes, and industry. The strategic effects will be cumulative: more beamtime, broader spectral coverage, faster experimentation, and a larger trained user community could accelerate advances in foundational science, technology, and military capabilities. For the United States, China’s expansion presents a dual challenge: protecting sensitive research while sustaining the infrastructure and scientific workforce needed to maintain U.S. leadership in photon science.

Keywords: Social and Behavioral Sciences; Photon sovereignty; China science and technology policy; Semiconductor manufacturing; X-ray free-electron lasers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7tj61937.pdf;origin=repeccitec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cdl:globco:qt7tj61937

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series from Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California
Bibliographic data for series maintained by eScholarship, California Digital Library ().