How efficiently can an initial ignition by a strong laser pulse set energy generation through fusion in motion? And how can it support its further progress? This is now being investigated under the leadership of the company Marvel Fusion in the VANLIFE project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with ten million euros. The Centre for Advanced Laser Applications, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the University of Rostock are also involved.
To ignite a fusion chain reaction to generate energy in the future, the company Marvel Fusion is relying on short-pulse lasers interacting with nanostructured materials. Laser-based fusion (IFE) is designed in particular for use in commercial fusion power plants. The nanostructures interact with the ultrashort laser pulses as energy converters. This means that they efficiently convert the incoming laser energy into the kinetic energy of fast ions.
The research project aims to investigate how the energy conversion can be optimized and to what extent it can be scaled up. The design should be easy to adapt or expand so that the converter can be used both in experimental setups and in commercial fusion power plants.
This type of initial ignition enables potentially novel concepts of fusion fuels with advanced, non-cryogenically cooled fuels. This could increase the energy gain of fusion reactions compared to conventional designs and allow power plants to operate with closed fuel cycles. At the same time, plasma instabilities during the potential fuel compression steps should be avoided. Following recent successes in laser-based fusion, thanks to impressive results at the National Ignition Facility, Marvel Fusion aims to significantly improve the commercial use of IFE technology with this new ignition technique.
The VANLIFE project now brings together more than 30 world-leading scientists from institutions such as the Center for Advanced Laser Applications (CALA), the HZDR with the HED-HIBEF facility at the European XFEL and the DRACO/PENELOPE laser facilities, as well as the University of Rostock. The consortium will investigate and optimize the ion generation process in the interaction of short-pulse lasers and nanostructures in depth – through a series of so-called “pump-probe experiments”, supported by simulations on superclusters.
Picture: Thorsten Naeser
More information:
Jannik Reigl, Marvel Fusion
Manager Communications & External Affairs
Jannik.reigl [at] marvelfusion.com
marvelfusion.com
