Carbonite / Legends Carbonite was a metal alloy that was made from carbon . It was mixed with tibanna gas , compressed , and flash - frozen into blocks for transportation . History . The Empress Teta system was a source of carbonite . The discovery that carbonite could be used to freeze spacers for their long journeys among the stars put an end to the generation ship s . Koros Major became a boomworld and one of the strongholds of the Mining Guild . The planet of Polus also had vast quantities of the metal alloy in its frozen wastelands . The inhabitants of Polus played a major role in the freezing process and mining . There were numerous times when individuals encased themselves in carbonite . In 33 BBY , a year before the Trade Federation invaded Naboo , I - 5YQ froze himself and Lorn Pavan in carbonite to survive an explosion set off by Darsha Assant during her duel with Darth Maul . Sometime during the Clone Wars , Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker encased himself and his team in carbonite to be sent undetected to the planet Gwori , and later used this method on another mission . Filba used carbonite for smuggling bota harvested on Drongar during the Clone Wars to preserve its quality . Some of Coruscant ' s skyhooks were tethered to the surface with carbonite nanofiber . In some locales , carbonite was also used to preserve the bodies of the dead . On Coruscant , Senator Viento was buried in this manner in the Senatorial Tombs . Han Solo was frozen in carbonite on Darth Vader ' s orders to test whether a Human could survive Bespin ' s freezing process before his plan to freeze Luke Skywalker . The modifications to the freezing chamber were successful in that Solo lived through the freezing process and entered into suspended animation . This state also served as an art piece of Vader ' s creation . Boba Fett dubbed it , " " Man in Carbonite " " , enticing Jabba to pay a significantly higher price for Solo . Savage Opress also became a subject of art in this manner prior to his death . Moruth Doole froze the body of the former warden of the Kessel prison system in carbonite in his office as a trophy . While imprisoned in carbonite , a Force user could not use the Force , or interact with it on any significant level , making it a useful Jedi containment tool . A common part of a hyperdrive was a carbonite insert . The usage of carbonite was obvious even for military purposes and carbonite gun s were made , used to spray a target in carbonite to freeze and paralyse the enemy . Those existed since during the time of the Old Republic , while early in the Galactic Civil War , the Galactic Empire used Carbonite war droid s . There was at least one case of Carbonite war droids spraying an entire village in carbonite . During the time of the Second Galactic Civil War , Boba Fett and Mirta Gev discovered that Fett ' s wife , Sintas Vel , had not died , but had been imprisoned in carbonite . The usage of such carbonite - based weapons continued through the Civil War . In 43 . 5 ABY , just a couple of years after the end of the Second Galactic Civil War , Chief of State Natasi Daala utilized carbonite to imprison violent Jedi that were succumbing to a mysterious Force psychosis . Carbonite was seen as the only means to contain the Jedi due to the relatively safe incapacitating effect of carbonite encasement . There were some Force - sensitive beings that could break free of carbonite restraints , however , including Galen Marek and his clone . Imperial Knight Antares Draco was frozen in carbonite in 138 ABY . Behind the scenes . This substance should not be confused with the real - world .