FusioTile Project: German Consortium Makes Progress in Government-Funded Laser Optics Innovation

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.