Conner D. Galloway
 | This biographical article is written like a résumé. (April 2025) |
Conner Daniel Galloway is an American physicist, nuclear engineer, and co‑founder and chief executive officer of Xcimer Energy Inc., a Denver, Colorado-based company developing laser‑driven inertial fusion energy technology.
| Conner D. Galloway | |
|---|---|
| Born | Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | MIT |
| 💼 Occupation | Physicist, nuclear engineer |
| 👔 Employer | Xcimer Energy Inc. |
| Title | CEO, co-founder |
| 🌐 Website | https://xcimer.energy/company/ |
Education and Early Career
Galloway earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering in Nuclear Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2009. In 2007 he received the Irving Kaplan Award for outstanding academic achievement as a junior in Nuclear Science and Engineering.[1] His master's thesis—Isothermal Model of ICF Burn with Finite Alpha Range Treatment[2]—focused on improved models of charge particle and radiation transport in inertially confined plasmas useful in 0-D and 1-D hydrocodes without significant increases in compute time.
Scientific Contributions
Galloway has authored or co-authored several publications in the field of fusion plasma physics and inertial confinement fusion, including:
- Photon coupling theory for plasmas with strong inhomogeneity (Physics of Plasmas, 2009)[3]
- Radiation and electron thermal conduction damping of acoustic perturbations in igniting deuterium-tritium gas (Journal of Plasma Physics, 2019)[4]
- Hybrid direct drive with a two-sided ultraviolet laser (Physics of Plasmas 2024[5]); the concept received a US Department of Energy INFUSE award for simulation[6]
Work at Los Alamos National Laboratory
While pursuing his graduate studies in the late 2000s, Galloway worked as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility in New Mexico renowned for its origins in the Manhattan Project.[7] At Los Alamos, Galloway studied the energy limitations of the National Ignition Facility (NIF)—which used a 2 MJ ultraviolet laser—and concluded that significantly higher laser energies (10–12 MJ, up to 20 MJ) and larger fuel capsules would simplify capsule design, improve implosion symmetry and robustness, enable high burn fractions, and allow significant ignition margin.[8]
While working with fellow MIT graduate student Alexander Valys,[9] Galloway learned that classified 1980s experiments at Los Alamos had already demonstrated laboratory‑scale fusion pellet ignition—knowledge derived from declassified summaries of the original secret weapons‑research efforts, known as Halite (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) and Centurion (Los Alamos National Laboratory).[7] Galloway and Valys reasoned that these larger capsules could be deployed utilizing thick liquid wall chamber protection if the drive laser were both an order of magnitude more energetic with only two beams, or what became known as a “hybrid direct‑drive” approach.[5]
"When Alex and I learned about those tests by Los Alamos and Livermore, our reaction was like 'Wow, inertial fusion has already worked!'" he recalled, a realization that directly inspired them to begin talking to investors and launch a startup to pursue a commercial laser‑fusion power plant.[7]
Work at Xcimer Energy
In August 2021, Galloway learned[10] that scientists at the National Ignition Facility (located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) had achieved a major milestone—a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules, the threshold of fusion ignition.[11] By January 2022, Galloway had founded Xcimer Energy in Redwood City, Calif.; Valys joined in April 2022.[10] They raised a seed round of $2.5 million.[12]
Xcimer aimed to recreate the kind of conditions that have enabled NIF to generate laser fusion with energy gain, but with much less complicated and cheaper optical technology[13]—with a goal of economically viable commercial power generation.[14] Xcimer's name comes from its krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser technology, which enables longer pulse lengths, lower costs, and higher efficiency than traditional solid-state lasers.[14]
Xcimer's novel laser architecture combines KrF excimer amplifiers with Raman beam combining and a novel pulse compression system using stimulated Brillouin scattering in neutral gases to achieve high driver energies (10 MJ or more on-target) at dramatically lower laser hardware costs ($20–$30/J on-target at commercial scale) than other technologies.[15]
Less than a year after Galloway started the company, NIF achieved the first controlled fusion reaction—in which a sizable number of lasers are directed toward a small frozen pellet of tritium and deuterium to produce an energy gain;[16] the attainment of fusion ignition and energy gain on the world's most energetic laser late last year drove interest in Xcimer's approach.[17][18]
In 2023, the US Department of Energy announced that Xcimer received $9 Million from the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, a public-private partnership initiative.[19] Later in 2023, Xcimer began collaborating with the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics.[20]
To fund the construction of a new prototyping facility and Xcimer's Phoenix laser system, the company raised over $100 million in a 2024 Series A round,[13] led by Hedosophia[21] with participation from Breakthrough Energy, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital, and Starlight Ventures.[18] Galloway announced that Xcimer would move from California to Denver, Colorado, the site of its new prototyping facility.[22]
Galloway said that Xcimer's first laser prototype system, Phoenix, is slated for completion in 2026,[23] followed by a larger engineering breakeven facility by 2030, ultimately targeting grid‑connected fusion power in the mid‑2030s.[24] Galloway says Xcimer's laser architecture will produce up to 10 times higher laser energy at 10 times higher efficiency and over 30 times lower cost per joule than the National Ignition Facility laser system, which achieved fusion ignition and scientific breakeven in 2022.[17][25]
References
- ↑ "Nuclear Science & Engineering awards". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Galloway, Conner Daniel (Conner Daniel Cross) (2009). Isothermal model of ICF burn with finite alpha range treatment (Thesis thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/53296.
- ↑ Molvig, Kim; Alme, Marv; Webster, Robert; Galloway, Conner (2009-02-20). "Photon coupling theory for plasmas with strong Compton scattering: Four temperature theory". Physics of Plasmas. 16 (2): 023301. doi:10.1063/1.3077663. ISSN 1070-664X.
- ↑ Galloway, Conner D.; Jr, Robert O. Hunter; Valys, Alexander V.; McCall, Gene H. (December 2019). "Radiation and electron thermal conduction damping of acoustic perturbations in igniting deuterium–tritium gas". Journal of Plasma Physics. 85 (6): 905850606. doi:10.1017/S002237781900076X. ISSN 0022-3778.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thomas, C. A.; Tabak, M.; Alexander, N. B.; Galloway, C. D.; Campbell, E. M.; Farrell, M. P.; Kline, J. L.; Montgomery, D. S.; Schmitt, M. J.; Christopherson, A. R.; Valys, A. (November 2024). "Hybrid direct drive with a two-sided ultraviolet laser". Physics of Plasmas. 31 (11): 112708. Bibcode:2024PhPl...31k2708T. doi:10.1063/5.0221201. ISSN 1070-664X. OSTI 2497786.
- ↑ "Simulation of Direct-Drive Hybrid Using Two Opposed Beams for Inertial Fusion Energy". infuse.ornl.gov. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Fusion energy: Could powerful lasers power a working reactor?". www.bbc.com. 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Thomas, C. A.; Tabak, M.; Alexander, N. B.; Galloway, C. D.; Campbell, E. M.; Farrell, M. P.; Kline, J. L.; Montgomery, D. S.; Schmitt, M. J.; Christopherson, A. R.; Valys, A. (2024-11-27). "Hybrid direct drive with a two-sided ultraviolet laser". Physics of Plasmas. 31 (11): 112708. doi:10.1063/5.0221201. ISSN 1070-664X. OSTI 2497786.
- ↑ Gigascaling Solutions: Conner Galloway and Alex Valys, Xcimer. Gigascale Capital. 2024-12-06. Retrieved 2025-04-24 – via YouTube.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 De Chant, Tim (2024-06-04). "Exclusive: 'Star Wars' lasers and waterfalls of molten salt: How Xcimer plans to make fusion power happen". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ "National Ignition Facility experiment puts researchers at threshold of fusion ignition". www.llnl.gov. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Allsup, Maeve (2024-06-05). "With Xcimer raise, cleantech investors once again bet on nuclear fusion". Latitude Media. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Xcimer lands $100M to build fusion energy prototype". optics.org. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Industrial Pathway to Inertial Fusion Energy". Xcimer Energy. 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Mehlhorn, Thomas A. (2024-02-28). "From KMS Fusion to HB11 Energy and Xcimer Energy, a personal 50 year IFE perspective". Physics of Plasmas. 31 (2): 020602. doi:10.1063/5.0170661. ISSN 1070-664X.
- ↑ Kramer, David (2023-03-01). "NIF success gives laser fusion energy a shot in the arm". Physics Today. 76 (3): 25–27. doi:10.1063/PT.3.5195. ISSN 0031-9228.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Xcimer raises $100 million to invest in inertial fusion laser tech". www.ans.org. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Zisk, Rachael (2024-06-06). "Xcimer Pulls a $100M Series A". Ignition News - Nuclear energy news. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ "Department of Energy Announces Milestone Public-Private Partnership Awards". Fusion Industry Association. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Valich, Lindsey (2023-06-02). "Laboratory for Laser Energetics joins team to develop commercial fusion energy". News Center. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ "Ian Osborne's Hedosophia leads $100M VC raise for fusion startup Xcimer". PitchBook. 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Akella, Surya (2024-06-05). "Xcimer secures $100m funding to advance laser tech". Power Technology. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ "Updates". Xcimer Energy. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ "Mission". Xcimer Energy. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ↑ Chambers, H. A. (July 1944). "Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand". The Musical Times. 85 (1217): 209. doi:10.2307/924080. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 924080.
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