University of California researchers won $555,000 to build detection equipment from lab-made diamonds, with the purpose of tracking reactions inside fusion power plants.
According to Interesting Engineering, the UC Santa Cruz team received this funding through an $8 million, three-year program supporting fusion research across California universities. They're designing detectors that withstand environments too harsh for typical instruments.
Fusion generates power by fusing hydrogen atoms together, a process that mirrors how the sun creates energy. Importantly, it produces no planet-warming pollution and minimal waste.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory first ignited a fusion reaction in 2022, then successfully repeated it many times with stronger results. Private companies have since invested more than $10 billion in the field.
Fusion technology could supply reliable electricity without the pollution that damages air quality and harms health. Since hydrogen fuels the process and exists abundantly, energy bills could shrink as this fuel proves cheaper than oil or gas.
Fusion benefits our world by creating abundant, clean electricity without dirty pollution. Additionally, the radioactive material it does create decays much faster than waste from traditional fission reactors.
There are hurdles, from high construction expenses to the complex technical work of maintaining stable reactions. But fusion sidesteps the weapons risks and persistent radioactive waste tied to older nuclear plants.
The UC Santa Cruz physicists joined forces with Advent Diamond to make sensors from manufactured diamonds rather than silicon. The researchers had built earlier detection tools using silicon, but that material breaks down when bombarded by the extreme radioactivity found at these facilities.
Diamonds fix this weakness. These sensors track the atomic particles that emerge from each fusion pulse, giving operators live feedback on performance. That information will prove necessary for running fusion plants securely and productively.
"Advent is one of the few companies in the world that can do the sort of boutique R&D needed to develop diamond sensors as nuclear particle detectors," said Bruce Schumm, a Long Family Professor of Experimental Physics.
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Yes — it'll pay off 👍 Early funding made the partnership work, he noted, and "enabled a collaboration that we have sought to get off the ground for several years now."
This partnership is just one example of how California is accelerating its fusion ambitions. Governor Gavin Newsom set aside $5 million in October 2025 for commercialization, with plans for an operational plant within two decades.
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