Recent Progress For Commercializing IFE Based on a Novel High Efficiency 10 MJ Laser and High Gain Fuel Target

T. Cohen^a, J. Mance^a, S. Gandrothula^a, K. Arai^b, F. S. Carcoba^b, H. Ohta^a, P. M. Pattison^a, P. Rudy^a, N. Svadlenak^a, C. Smith^a, R. Fukuda^a, S. Iizuka^a, Y. Ohara^a, K. Tsubakimoto^c, R. Adhikari^b, S.Nakamura^a

a: Blue Laser Fusion Inc., 6950 Hollister Ave., Goleta, CA, USA 93117; b: The Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, USA 91125; c: Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

ABSTRACT
Blue Laser Fusion (BLF) is commercializing a laser technology capable of enabling the world’s first clean, on-demand, renewable inertial fusion energy (IFE) generation. The BLF IFE laser platform enables a high efficiency 10 MJ laser coupled to a high gain fusion fuel target to generate energy. We present recent progress, in collaboration with Caltech as well as Osaka University, on the modular pulsed laser system, including performance of CW and pulsed laser energy storage in a large-scale optical enhancement cavity (OEC), injected with a coherent beam combined (CBC) fiber amplified laser system. An OEC is a Fabry Perot cavity that is designed to store large amounts of energy within the 2-mirror cavity by carefully timing the round-trip time of the intracavity laser pulse with the following injected laser, resulting in phase matching and stacking of the laser pulse. Through the combination of multiple OECs and input lasers, the architecture can deliver effectively-broad spectral width, appropriate polarization, high spatial beam quality, and precise temporal tuning optimized for direct drive IFE with a high gain fuel target.

Keywords: Laser, Fusion, OEC, energy, IFE, inertial fusion energy, coherent beam combining, CBC, optical enhancement
cavity

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