September 10, 2025
Marvel Fusion intends to demonstrate inertial fusion energy (IFE) production by constructing an
economically viable fusion plant based on the physics of high-intensity short-pulse laser-matter
interactions using nanostructured targets. However, the conditions inside a working fusion
reactor will be very different from the idealized vacuum interaction conditions present in typical
laboratory experiments due to the generation of a complex gaseous environment by the high
repetition rate irradiation of fusion targets. A primary challenge will be the delivery on target of
high optical intensities through a significant background pressure of gas that acts to degrade the
spatial and temporal quality of the laser through nonlinear effects. This project is using the
Petawatt-class ALEPH laser system at Colorado State University to investigate the focusing of a
femtosecond laser pulse to ultrahigh intensities in a gas environment designed to simulate an
operational fusion reactor. The spatio-temporal and spectral properties of the ALEPH laser will
be measured as a function of the focal chamber environment and the results will be compared
to nonlinear optical simulations to benchmark codes for future fusion reactor design efforts.
The ALEPH laser facility has the existing infrastructure and equipment required to readily
implement this experiment, which will have a significant impact on IFE engineering efforts. The
data collected during the experiment will then be used to benchmark and validate non-linear
laser propagation codes that will be an important tool for future reactor designs.