Recently, a significant breakthrough in the realm of photonic time crystals has been accomplished by two research teams from Beijing Institute of Technology. One team is headed by Professor Zhang Xiangdong of the School of Physics, and the other is led by Professor Sun Houjun of the School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics. They have achieved the first-ever experimental success in realizing surface-emitting microwave vortex beam lasing, which is based on photonic time crystals. This milestone achievement enables the generation of coherent microwave radiation that carries orbital angular momentum (OAM), all without relying on traditional gain media or high-Q resonant cavities—a significant departure from conventional methods. The relevant research findings have been published in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters [Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 023801 (2026)]. This research received support from the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and other funding bodies.