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Munich/Jena/Ilmenau, 20 November 2025 – At a consortium meeting in Ilmenau, the partners of the government-funded FusioTile project reviewed the progress made in developing large-format pulse compression gratings (PCGs) for high-power laser systems. Launched in February 2025, the three-year project with funding of approximately €11 million by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) brings together the expertise of Marvel Fusion, Carl Zeiss Jena, Fraunhofer IOF, the Technical University of Ilmenau, and Lenstec Jena.
The goal of FusioTile is to establish new manufacturing processes in Germany for producing PCGs on a meter scale – a dimension that has so far been scarcely achieved. These gratings are considered a technological bottleneck for applications such as laser fusion, high-energy physics, and other fields of photonics.
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Ruhl, Chief Science Officer at Marvel Fusion, commented: “FusioTile is a perfect example of how bold research and strong partnerships can drive national innovation. With the support of the German government, we’re accelerating the technologies that will define the future of energy, and we are excited to advance this important topic together with our institutes and partners.”
Once developed, these gratings can be integrated into laser systems operating at 100 joules energy levels. The outcomes of FusioTile will not only lay the foundation for advanced laser fusion systems but also open the door to new optical technologies across a wide range of industrial and scientific fields. The project represents a key technological milestone, poised to strengthen Germany’s global position in high-power laser and photonics research.
During the consortium meeting, the partners reported that the design phase across all participating institutions is now nearly complete, paving the way for the transition from conceptual work to hands-on implementation. Significant progress has also been made in the manufacturing of demonstrators and experimental setups. These results underscore the consortium’s strong momentum toward realizing the next iteration of prototypes.
Press Contact
Alena Bunz
Communications Lead
alena.bunz@marvelfusion.com
About Marvel Fusion
Marvel Fusion is pioneering a novel approach to commercialize laser-driven inertial fusion energy, aiming to provide competitive, safe and limitless energy to the world. The company leverages state-of-the-art laser systems, advanced target design, and innovative mixed fuels to develop compact and scalable fusion power plants, targeting deployment by the mid-2030s.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, with additional operations in Fort Collins, U.S., Marvel Fusion has assembled a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to drive its mission forward. Backed by more than EUR 385 million in public and private funding, the company is the best-capitalized laser fusion company globally.
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ANNEX
How Does a Pulse Compression Grating Work?
Modern laser systems achieve extreme peak power using Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA). In this process, a weak laser pulse is first stretched in time by separating its different wavelengths, allowing the pulse to be amplified without damaging the optical components. Each color of the laser corresponds to a specific frequency, and when stretched, these frequencies pass through the system in sequence. If this frequency pattern were made audible through a loudspeaker, it would produce a “chirping” sound – hence the name.
The separated wavelengths are then precisely recombined using a pulse compression grating (PCG) – essentially a highly precise mirror with a finely structured grating surface. This process creates ultrashort, high-energy light bursts in the femtosecond range, powerful enough to study matter under extreme pressure and temperature conditions or even ignite fusion fuels.
The size of the grating is crucial: only if the surface area is large enough can the energy per square millimeter be spread sufficiently to prevent damage. For the world’s most powerful short-pulse lasers, PCGs with edge lengths of above 100 centimeters are required – yet current mass manufacturing methods are typically limited to about 30 centimeters.
Two Paths to Large Gratings: Lithography and Segmentation
The FusioTile project pursues two complementary technological approaches:
1. Scalable Lithography Technologies
Using scanning interferometric lithography, the project aims to produce continuous line grating structures up to 500 millimeters in a single piece – with lateral line precision better than 10 nanometers, roughly one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair. This technique also offers strong potential for further scalability.
2. Segmentation and Precision Joining Techniques
In this approach, a grating is divided into multiple precisely fabricated segments. These elements – produced using high-precision electron-beam writing – are then joined together with nanometer accuracy, much like segmented space telescopes, and aligned interferometrically. The result is a fully functional large-scale grating on the meter level.
Both methods demand exceptional performance in areas such as nanopositioning, interferometric alignment, and ultra-precise glass processing – capabilities that the FusioTile consortium brings together in a focused, collaborative effort.
Project Partners at a Glance
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