24/7 Space News
ENERGY TECH
Compact fusion boom propels PLD REBCO tape production while spotlighting cost and stability hurdles
illustration only
Compact fusion boom propels PLD REBCO tape production while spotlighting cost and stability hurdles
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Oct 10, 2025

The rapid rise of compact fusion has ignited demand for high temperature superconducting tapes, creating a major opening for the HTS industry. Manufacturers are scaling pulsed laser deposition REBCO coated conductors to deliver performance and price points suited to fusion magnets and other high field systems.

PLD has matured from lab tools to industrial production through multi plume multi turn processes and high power excimer lasers. Top tier PLD producers now exceed 3,000 km at 12 mm annually and collectively account for more than half of global HTS wire output.

Roughly 15 HTS tape makers operate worldwide, with four leaders on the PLD path FFJ Shanghai Superconductor Technology Fujikura and S innovation. Others including HTSI SuperMag Technology Suprema SuNAM and SuperPower are adopting PLD lines as scaling and replication lower barriers to entry.

Both flat plate and drum chamber designs can yield uniform long length tapes. Mass produced PLD REBCO has achieved Je above 1,000 A per mm2 at 20 K and 20 T with Ic greater than 200 A per 4 mm at 20 K 20 T B parallel c and street prices around 15 to 30 dollars per meter.

Key goals are sharper cost downs toward 50 dollars per kA m short term and 10 to 20 dollars per kA m longer term while improving reproducibility and process windows. Laser efficiency A per Joule REBCO target utilization under 50 percent and raw material lead times remain central constraints.

Scaling by line replication is feasible as demonstrated by FFJ and Shanghai Superconductor. Opportunities include richer online monitoring closed loop control and AI driven data mining to widen stable deposition windows enhance uniformity and raise yields for next generation compact fusion programs.

Research Report:Commercial compact fusion triggered REBCO tape industry: Pulsed laser deposition technology opportunities and challenges

Related Links
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal Center
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
ENERGY TECH
New AI enhances the view inside fusion energy systems
Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Oct 06, 2025
Imagine watching a favorite movie when suddenly the sound stops. The data representing the audio is missing. All that's left are images. What if artificial intelligence (AI) could analyze each frame of the video and provide the audio automatically based on the pictures, reading lips and noting each time a foot hits the ground? That's the general concept behind a new AI that fills in missing data about plasma, the fuel of fusion, according to Azarakhsh Jalalvand of Princeton University. Jalalvand i ... read more

ENERGY TECH
Five youths using tech to drive change win UN-backed prize

ESA unveils Pulse framework to streamline mission management

Arianespace partners with BULL to advance space debris prevention measures on Ariane 6

U.S. and U.K. execute joint satellite maneuver in milestone space operation

ENERGY TECH
Space Ocean and Space Nukes Forge Alliance to Develop Deep Space Power Systems

SpaceX plans Starship test flight in Texas as early as Monday

SpaceX plans 11th test of Starship later this month from South Texas

Rocket Lab Expands Synspective Partnership with 10 Additional Electron Launches

ENERGY TECH
Curtin powers global push to find life on Mars and advance autonomy

Researchers ID new mineral on Mars, providing insight on potential early life

Technique Could Reveal Hidden Habitats on Moon and Mars

Wind driven rovers show promise for low cost Mars missions

ENERGY TECH
Constellations of Power: Smart Dragon-3 and the Geopolitics of China's Space Strategy

China advances lunar program with Long March 10 ignition test

Chinese astronauts expand science research on orbiting space station

China planning for a trillion-dollar deep space economy by 2040

ENERGY TECH
T-Satellite powers smartphone apps beyond cell coverage

UK expands international space ties with 23 new collaborations

China sends 11th group of internet satellites into orbit for global constellation

Planet expands satellite production with new Berlin facility

ENERGY TECH
Light-driven control of topological structures unlocks new path for ultrafast memory

New theory transforms understanding of nanoscale heat transport

Light pulses enable next-generation stable data storage

Light triggers formation of high-mobility electron gas in oxide interfaces

ENERGY TECH
White dwarf consumes icy Pluto-like planet fragment in deep space

Patchwork planets: Piecing together the early solar system

Detection of phosphine in a brown dwarf atmosphere raises more questions

The first animals on Earth may have been sea sponges, study suggests

ENERGY TECH
Out-of-this-world ice geysers on Saturn's Enceladus

3 Questions: How a new mission to Uranus could be just around the corner

A New Model of Water in Jupiter's Atmosphere

Evidence of a past, deep ocean on Uranian moon, Ariel

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.