Global R&D group collaborates to deliver laser expertise to Starfire energy project

09 Sep 2025

Starfire hub, funded by U.S. DOE, is developing fusion energy solutions, led by LLNL.

Artist’s rendering of a diode laser module with beam shaping.

The Starfire Hub – an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop fusion energy solutions under the leadership of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – has announced the addition of five new members to its Diode Technology Working Group.

Two German research institutes and three companies have joined with the LLNL, adding further breadth to the hub’s expertise in diode technology and, strengthening Starfire’s collaborative effort to advance the technology basis for inertial fusion energy (IFE).

“We’re excited to welcome a distinguished group of organizations to Starfire. Their collective expertise will be instrumental in accelerating the development of diode technology needed to make inertial fusion energy a reality,” said LLNL’s Will Fenwick, Chair of the Diode Technology Working Group.

Since December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at LLNL has demonstrated in repeated experiments that it is possible to use lasers to ignite a fusion plasma from the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium with energy gain. However, in the test facility, flash lamps are used to pump the world’s largest and most powerful laser system. The latest Starfire announcement states, “To make inertial confinement fusion usable for power plants, fundamentally new plant concepts based on diode technology are required.”

In future fusion power plants, pumping will be performed by highly efficient diode lasers. With minimal energy input and high-energy output, these will have to guarantee a frequency of 10 to 20 pump pulses per second (10-20 Hz) without overheating. The pump light supplies the energy needed to amplify the laser radiation to the megajoule range for igniting the fusion plasma.

Target chamber in artist’s concept of an inertial fusion energy plant.

Roadmap for new laser diodes

The working group, which has been expanded by the five new members, will define technical requirements, assess feasibility, and drive innovation to support industry-wide progress in high-power diode technology. It will also push the convergence of requirements between IFE laser drivers and laser diodes.

Further objectives that the members will be working on are a common definition of diode reliability for IFE as well as a standard for reliability testing of diodes in IFE applications. For the latter, inter-laboratory tests to compare the performance of the diodes at several locations are planned, which will be coordinated by the working group.

Paul Crump, head of the High-Power Diode Laser Lab at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut(FBH) in Berlin, will lead the newly formed working group together with Will Fenwick from LLNL. Along with the FBH, another research partner, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) in Aachen joins the Diode Technology Working Group.

ILT had already been a member of the broader Starfire hub, along with Trumpf Photonics and Leonardo Electronics. New additions to the hub include three leading international companies in the field of diode laser technology: Hamamatsu Photonics; Lumibird; and Coherent.

“The addition of these new members underscores our commitment to fostering collaboration across industry and research. Together, we are laying the groundwork for the next generation of fusion energy solutions by strengthening the supply chain,” said Tammy Ma, lead for LLNL’s IFE Institutional Initiative. The hub is an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences division.

Coherent joins LLNL’s Starfire laser diode group

Coherent has announced its membership in the Diode Technology Working Group within the Starfire Hub. The laser giant stated that the collaboration reflects its commitment to “addressing the world’s most complex energy challenges,” adding, “By working alongside other leading institutions and industry partners, we look forward to shaping the future of high-power diode technology and supporting the development of sustainable, scalable fusion energy solutions.”

Beck Mason, Executive VP, Semiconductor Devices at Coherent, said, “Joining Starfire is an exciting opportunity for Coherent to help define the future of diode technology for inertial fusion. We’re proud to lend our expertise to this transformative effort and to collaborate with other leaders advancing the frontier of clean, limitless energy.”