Dilithium

Encyclopedia : D : DI : DIL : Dilithium

This article is about a fictitious substance. There is also a rock formation in Owens River Gorge in California called "The Dilithium Crystal".

Dilithium is a fictional crystalline mineral in the universe of Star Trek. A beam of matter and antimatter interacting within dilithium generates a plasma that is used to power the warp drives that allow starships to travel faster than light. This function of dilithium was officially established with the series; in earlier works its properties are not clearly defined.

In the original series, dilithium crystals occurred only naturally, making the search for them a major plot element for a number of stories. In , Spock discovers a method of re-crystallizing dilithium that allows the crew to regenerate the crystals on board their Klingon Bird-of-prey. This involves using 20th century fission reactors that generate high-energy photons that could cause the crystals to regenerate. Presumably this technique was not used earlier in the series because fission reactors had long been replaced by cleaner and more efficient technology.

To avoid plots based on searches for dilithium crystals, the back-story of The Next Generation has dilithium synthesized artificially. These crystals can also be re-crystallized using technology that had been developed during the time between the movies and the events of The Next Generation.

It is established that a large amount of dilithium can cause a planet to become geologically unstable, leading to a number of planets that had broken apart. The crew of the Enterprise-D found a method of eliminating the dilithium from such planets in order to save them.

The props used in place of dilithium crystals appear to be rose quartz in some instances and calcite in others.

Dilithium in the real world and popular culture

Dilithium and higher numbers of covalently bonded lithium atoms do exist in the real world, albeit in small quantities. It has been observed, for example, that 1% of lithium in the vapor phase (by mass) is in the form of dilithium. Clusters of lithium atoms also exist; the most common arrangment is Li₆.

In the computer game NetHack, dilithium crystals are the most valuable gemstone you can find. They are white, and are as soft as worthless glass.

In the science-fiction comedy satire Tripping the Rift, the Jupiter 42 also runs on dilithium.

External links

article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
"The Mineralogy of Star Trek" [link]

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