German Industry University Research Joint Establishment of National Laser Fusion Research Center
With funding from the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), a multi site laser fusion center spanning Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein and Hesse has officially been launched. The center aims to gather the joint efforts of industry and academia to focus on the core goal of building commercial laser fusion power plants in Germany.
In tandem with fusion companies Marvel Fusion and Focused Energy, the hub is to be led by the IFE Innovation Network e.V., an association yet to be formally established. The companies will serve as hub co-founders and co-shareholders, and are developing the campus together with European XFEL, DESY, the University of Hamburg, Kiel University, the University of Rostock, along with a broad network of additional scientific and industrial partners and with the support of the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
A pillar of the hub is the Fusion R&D Campus Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein, with the international research facility European XFEL at its center. This campus will serve as the center of German laser fusion R&D, focusing on laser physics, diagnostics, and materials research. Additionally, European XFEL intends to expand its capabilities to enable precise measurement of laser-target interactions across a wide parameter range — a fundamental prerequisite for validating new ignition and compression concepts on the path to a fusion power plant. This infrastructure is reportedly unique in the world: The hub can draw on an established scientific base and decades of expertise from DESY in the development of high-power lasers.
Germany is establishing a laser fusion hub to accelerate R&D toward establishing the first commercial laser fusion power plant in Germany.
The initiative will debut with five distinct, concrete research proposals, each addressing a specific technological and scientific milestone on the path to a commercial power plant.
The first, SAVGUR, will provide an open-source 3D simulation framework for fusion target design which will provide a foundation for developing targets cost-effectively and reproducibly. SCALABLE-FI, the second proposal, targets high-efficiency fast ignition with nanostructured metamaterial targets — new ignition concepts that reduce laser energy demand and improve economic viability. Third, OCLIP, aims for lifetime models and test protocols for optical coatings in high-energy laser systems to provide long-lived optics for industrial-scale operation. The fourth effort is SCOPE-IFE, a project to develop shared diagnostics infrastructure with AI-assisted laser stabilization for precision and reliability for continuous operation. Finally, METROTARG is preparing to develop metrology for fusion targets at cryogenic temperatures to provide quality assurance as a prerequisite for scalable target manufacturing.
The hub is open to all participants in the ecosystem. A number of scientific and industrial partners have already expressed interest in joining — including 15 universities and research institutes, 13 industrial partners, and three technology transfer organizations.
source: photonics
