High-Intensity, Short-Pulse, Laser-Driven Fusion with Nanostructured Targets

Intense, ultrahigh-contrast, short laser pulses interacting with embedded, nanostructured materials in a mixed, non-cryogenic fuel matrix offer feasible options for a novel Inertial Fusion energy (IFE) concept with improved commercial viability [1-4]. The nanostructures enable ultrahigh power absorption capabilities and can efficiently transfer a large fraction of laser energy to the ions on a 100-fs timescale, accelerating the ions to MeV energies. The accelerated ions are then used to rapidly heat fuel layers to fusion conditions on time scales orders of magnitude shorter than the available confinement time while exceeding energy losses due to radiation emission or heat conduction. The operation of such a Nano Accelerator requires laserirradiation with high intensity (I > 10$^{20}$ W/cm$^{2}$), ultra-high-contrast (<10$^{-12}$ on ps time scales), and sub-100-fs pulse duration at sub-micrometer wavelength. Future commercial applications additionally require efficient laser pulse generation with above-10% wall plug efficiency and operating at 10 Hz.

With regards to realizing such an IFE concept, Marvel Fusion has performed or is performing contrast and intensity-improving measures at petawatt facilities in Europe as well as the U.S., while we are building a novel, efficient, ultra-compact, all-diode-pumped, scalable system laser system. On existing lasers, excellent laser temporal contrast combined with high focused intensity was demonstrated via volumetric ion acceleration from few-nm-thin foil targets as well as from nanowire array targets. I’ll present Marvel Fusion’s roadmap towards validating the fusion approach and its technology, as well as some experimental results from several campaigns aimed at characterizing laser- and target performance at petawatt laser facilities both in the U.S. as well as in Europe.

References:

[1] H. Ruhl and G. Korn, “High current ionic flows via ultra-fast lasers for fusion applications”, arXiv:2212.12941 (2022)

[2] H. Ruhl and G. Korn, “A non-thermal laser-driven mixed fuel nuclear fusion reactor concept”, arXiv:2202.03170 (2022)

[3] H. Ruhl and G. Korn, “Numerical validation of a volume heated mixed fuel concept”, arXiv:2306.03731 (2023)

[4] H. Ruhl and G. Korn, “Uniform volume heating of mixed fuels within the ICF paradigm”, arXiv:2302.06562 (2023).