Irradiation assembly and method of generating a laser beam for a laser-based fusion reaction

An irradiation system comprising multiple irradiation assemblies arranged to irradiate the fusion fuel pellet from different directions with respective laser beams, each the irradiation assembly comprising:

• an optical input for the laser beam originating from a laser source, the laser beam having an initial transverse phase distribution and an initial transverse intensity profile;
• a profile forming component configured to shape the initial phase distribution of the laser beam so that the initial transverse intensity profile is transformed into a final transverse intensity profile at the fusion fuel pellet;
• and
• at least one steering element configured to steer the laser beam towards the profile forming component or towards the fusion fuel pellet to trigger the fusion reaction in the fusion fuel pellet by the laser beam,
• wherein the final transverse intensity profile has a Gaussian-like profile when arriving at the fusion fuel pellet.

A method for triggering a laser-based fusion reaction in a fusion fuel pellet, the method comprising:

• providing a laser beam originating from a laser source with an initial transverse phase distribution and intensity profile;
• transforming the initial transverse intensity profile into a final transverse profile at the fusion fuel pellet by shaping the initial phase distribution of the laser beam;
• and
• steering the laser beam towards a profile forming component or towards the fusion fuel pellet to trigger the fusion reaction in the fusion fuel pellet by the laser beam,
• wherein the final transverse intensity profile has a Gaussian-like profile when arriving at the fusion fuel pellet.