The World’s Largest Privately Owned Laser Has Been Activated

Fusion startup Xcimer Energy announced on Wednesday that it has activated its Phoenix laser system, which it claims to be the largest privately-owned system in the world.

Xcimer’s fusion power approach is influenced by the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which revealed in December 2022 that a controlled fusion reaction can produce more energy than is required to initiate it.

At NIF, 192 laser beams were directed at a fuel target smaller than a pencil eraser. The lasers struck a gold target, vaporizing it, and converting the energy into X-rays that focused on the fuel pellet, compressing it until atomic fusion occurred and energy was released.

The company is confident that utilizing more powerful and simpler lasers will facilitate the transition from the NIF’s fusion concept to a commercially feasible solution.

Xcimer’s fusion power plant design features two lasers capable of emitting microsecond-long pulses. The light emitted from these pulses will traverse a compression system, delivering laser energy to the fuel target in just nanoseconds. Quick compression of the fuel heightens the chances of achieving viable fusion reactions.

Phoenix marks a step forward towards a future power plant. This system employs excimer amplification techniques used in semiconductor manufacturing but operates at a significantly higher power level. According to Xcimer, at peak capacity, the krypton-fluoride laser generates over 1 kilojoule of energy, with its main body measuring 38 meters in length.

Despite being the most potent privately-owned laser, it still does not meet the estimated requirements for a commercial power plant, which may require over 12 megajoules.

Xcimer intends to complete a prototype by 2028, subsequently scaling up to a larger system anticipated to generate at least as much energy as it consumes. Plans for the first commercial-scale power plant are set for construction in the mid-2030s.