Energy Industry

For three decades now, the AKL – International Laser Technology Congress has been established as a key platform for exchange within the laser community. From April 22–24, 544 experts from 21 countries, around 90 speakers, and 57 exhibiting companies and institutions flocked to AKL’26 in Aachen. There, during the Gerd Herziger Session, a panel of high-caliber experts reviewed the developments of the past 30 years and looked ahead to the future of increasingly ubiquitous laser technology.

Laser technology is breaking into new dimensions: Ultrashort-pulse and continuous-wave lasers with average powers in the multi-kilowatt (kW) range promise to boost efficiency for material processing and pave the way for entirely new fields of applications. At the AKL’26 - International Laser Technology Congress, taking place from April 22 to 24, 2026, in Aachen, several sessions will focus on multi-kW lasers.

Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, together with tinkerbrain – Institut für Bildungsinitiativen GmbH, has developed multimedia and multidisciplinary learning and teaching materials as part of Science Year 2025, funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR). It teaches schoolchildren about the scientific and technical background of fusion as an energy source of the future and its potential to generate a secure climate-neutral energy supply. Three schools in Aachen have already worked with this subject in regular lessons and in week-long project seminars. The project partners are now making it available free of charge to interested schools and extracurricular learning centers as the web-based "fusionsLAB.de."

Solid-state batteries promise greater safety, higher energy density, and new degrees of freedom in cell design. Yet the path from laboratory cell to industrial production is challenging. Laser processes can overcome key hurdles and enable a breakthrough.

State Secretary Matthias Hauer presents funding approval for the InnoWaerm project at Fraunhofer ILT. The project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) with approximately 1.5 million euros, develops high-temperature-resistant lightweight reactors made from titanium aluminide that can be manufactured using additive manufacturing. They are intended to generate hydrogen directly on board aircraft, agricultural machinery, or heavy-duty vehicles.

Industrial manufacturing is under increasing pressure. Sales markets that were considered secure for decades are becoming unstable. Robust supply chains are being threatened. Energy and material costs are rising, markets demand a growing number of variants, and new products must reach production readiness ever faster. In this environment, the laser has established itself as a reliable manufacturing tool. Its physical principles are well understood, and many laser-based processes are mature and proven in industrial use. As a result, the focus of research is clearly shifting. The key question is no longer whether a process can be realized with a laser, but how efficiently, robustly, and economically it can be operated in everyday production.

Two world-leading research institutions are joining forces and their laser design and simulation expertise – to successfully transition laser-ignited inertial fusion from the experimental stage to industrial application. In the project ICONIC-FL (International Cooperation on Next-gen Inertial Confinement Fusion Lasers), the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT Aachen, Germany, are diligently collating their sophisticated laser simulation models. The shared aim is the development of high-energy lasers that can ignite a fusion reaction and will run at maximum efficiency in 24/7 power plant operation. This requires precise and highly accurate predictions of laser performance, which is why powerful computer simulations play a central role in the development of laser architecture.

Over the next three years, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT will be working with regional partners to develop new technologies to reduce the cost-intensive use of precious metals in proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. At Fraunhofer ILT's Hydrogen Lab, researchers are presenting the entire process chain – from simulation and testing to the manufacturing of components and systems for hydrogen technology.

How can artificial intelligence (AI) contribute to value creation in laser manufacturing technology and optical design? What approaches are there and what is missing to leverage the potential? A conference organized by SPECTARIS and supported by Fraunhofer ILT and the German Association for IT-SMEs in Berlin on October 1 and 2 provided answers.

Laser-based inertial confinement fusion is a market that holds strategic value for the photonics industry. Its feasibility has already been demonstrated. In Germany, consortia from industry and research are forming to tap this climate-neutral and intrinsically safe energy source and create powerful supply chains for it. The state is providing over one billion euros to develop basic technologies for fusion power plants. Current approaches have great potential for innovation beyond fusion. Key players will meet at LASER 2025 for the application panel "Laser Fusion: Energizing photonics Industry". Led by the Fraunhofer ILT, it will shed light on the market potential and opportunities of fusion.