Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Serhat Karyeyen and Photonics Department faculty member Prof. Dr. Süleyman Özçelik attended the University-Defense Industry Alliance Ceremony hosted by ASELSAN with the participation of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. During the program, Prof. Dr. Süleyman Özçelik was presented with a plaque of appreciation at the ceremony for his contributions to the development and production of germanium single crystals, which are of critical importance for the defense industry.

The crystals produced using the germanium single-crystal growth infrastructure established in 2012 at the Gazi University Photonics Application and Research Center are now actively produced and used by ASELSAN in infrared (IR) imaging systems. This development is regarded as a strategic gain that reduces Türkiye’s dependence on foreign sources for critical optoelectronic components and strengthens domestic production capacity.

At the stand set up during the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Süleyman Özçelik introduced germanium products to Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Defense Industry President Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün and ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol, and shared domestic solutions developed against international restrictions in germanium supply. Prof. Dr. Özçelik stated that germanium waste is recovered through a system established within the technopark, reprocessed at high purity and reintroduced into production processes, adding: “This approach is of critical importance not only for technological independence, but also for a sustainable and circular production model.”

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, in his remarks, drew attention to the strategic value of recycling technologies and stated that such studies should be expanded to other critical materials.

Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Serhat Karyeyen emphasized the value of this important contribution in photonics for Türkiye and thanked the academic team involved in the project.

These studies developed at the Gazi University Photonics Application and Research Center stand out as a concrete example showing that high-value-added, critical defense technologies can be produced with domestic and national capabilities.