Research Advances Practical use of Laser Fusion Fuel

The Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, Toyota Motor Corporation and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. have announced the discovery of a new efficient heating mechanism for fusion fuel by irradiating two opposed beams in three steps (total: six beams), with lasers installed opposite each other with fusion fuel between them. This achievement shows that a compact device has a potential to make fusion fuel compressed, heated and ignited with a lower number of lasers than large scale laser fusion fuel facilities, which advances the practical use of laser fusion.

This research was a collaboration among 19 researchers at eight institutions: The Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries, Toyota Motor Corporation, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories, Nagoya University Institute of Innovation for Future Society, The Institute for Laser Technology (Japan), The University of Nevada, Reno and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan).