Developed MOCVD reactor design by compiling a comprehensive bibliography on REBCO MOCVD modeling, analyzing kinetic data for REBCO deposition and solvent decomposition, and simulating the actual process to benchmark experimental results against published deposition models.
Conducted conceptual assessment of alternative reactor geometries and performed deposition simulations to support reactor design optimization.

Definition of the deposition methods and tools that we will use to manufacture our wide HTS tapes: polishing, Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), and Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD).

Finalisation of our MOCVD vacuum chamber design.

Finalisation of the concept for the main parts of our first PVD machine, including the vacuum chamber, deposition tools, and roll-to-roll system.

Demonstrated manual polishing process: developed liquid suspension used in polishing process, ensured it meets process specifications, etc.

Received MOCVD vacuum chamber: first installations and tests.

Received first PVD’s vacuum chamber.

Validation of the modular approach for the polishing machine.

Established internal lab and external collaborations to characterize our HTS tapes (AFM, microscopy, profilometry, etc.).

Acquired small Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) machine to test new processes in reduced scale before transposition to large, in-house machines.

Analyzed the MOCVD exhaust gases (in small scale, in collaboration with U. Lorraine) and identified the equipment to safely handle it on an industrial scale.

Key test on the machine that will deposit superconducting films by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD): commissioned the roll-to-roll system on a 20 m long, 24 cm wide Hastelloy tape.

Delivery and commissioning of our oxygen furnace.

Commissioned the vacuum system of our first PVD machine, as well as its roll-to-roll system (on a 10 m long, 24 cm wide Hastelloy tape). Installed  the fluid distribution lines and deposition systems.

Birth of Renaissance Fusion: our founders Francesco Volpe and Martin Kupp officially launch their project to revolutionize the nuclear fusion sector with a next-gen, simplified stellarator based on the wide HTS tapes and liquid metal technologies.

We receive the keys to our first office: a 35 m2 space at Regus Grenoble, a coworking space in the heart of one of Europe’s most dynamic tech hubs.

The company starts recruiting its first employees; the team boasts five new members at the end of 2021.

The development of our technologies calls for larger facilities: we sign a lease for an office and workshop complex at 22 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud in Fontaine, a few minutes out of Grenoble. We move in in August 2021.

As our team continues to grow, our facilities start feeling cramped. we sign a lease for the neighboring building, at 14 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud. We settle in from April/May 2024.

We inaugurate Renaissance Fusion Italia, located at at Via Fratelli Rosselli 9 in San Giuliano Terme, near Pisa. Two months later, in August, we welcome our first Italy-based members.

Our team reaches 100 employees, a symbolic milestone after five years of exponential growth.

Love money round: raised our first funds with the support of family and friends.

Pre-seed round with business angels.

Seed round: raised €15.5 M thanks to Lowercarbon Capital, Positron Ventures, Norrsken, and other positive-impact investors.

Received a €10 M grant by Bpifrance, following our nomination as awardees of French investment plan France 2030.

Series A1 round: raised €32 M with the support of Crédit Mutuel Impact and Lowercarbon Capital.

Completed our 1st 4-cm bore HTS magnet wound in-house, producing 0.5 T peak field on the windings. The magnet was cooled in liquid nitrogen, and operated up to 400 A.

Modeled an in-house design of an HTS-based high performance undulator. With a peak field of 1.5T, it showcased the benefits of laser-engraved wide multi-layered HTS, proving that smaller and more compact undulators are eminently possible using HTS tape. This type of compact design is of great interest for future synchrotron facilities.

Proof-of-Concept validation of our magnet grooving technology using discreet aluminium plates – to produce a gyrotron field profile with a peak flux density of 20 mT in the bore.

Finalised our first laser-engraved copper MRI magnet cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature. It produced a field with a uniformity of 50 ppm over an 8 cm diameter spherical volume, measured with an NMR probe.

Produced Nicola20 HTS magnet - a 20-cm bore magnet using 200 m of HTS tape producing 0.23 T on axis and 0.9 T peak on the windings, operating at liquid nitrogen temperature.

Development and demonstration of a novel thermal management system to handle thermal gradients up to 79°C/mm (1233K, i.e., 960°C on the hot side; 333K, i.e., 60°C on the cold side).

Completed testing of our first cryogenics system delivering 220 W of cooling power at 20 K using pressurized helium gas.

Commissioned and tested our in-house electron beam scanning system that will allow us to map a stellarator field.

Development of our parallel HTS tape winding machine for high-field magnet manufacturing, featuring automated web-tension control and tape alignment.

Successful testing in liquid nitrogen of one of our two 1 m bore non-insulated HTS magnets, Nicola100, designed to achieve a peak field on the windings of 6 T and 1 T on axis.

First integrated experiment with Nicola 100, our HTS magnet, deflecting 700°C molten tin, thanks to a mean field of 0.52 T in the liquid metal chamber and up to 4000 A of current injected externally.

First successful demonstration of a stellarator magnetic field using a laser-engraved copper magnet operating at liquid nitrogen temperature. This prototype demonstrated our ability to design and manufacture laser-engraved magnets capable of reproducing the field of a stellarator configuration. This is the first step towards producing laser-engraved HTS magnets for our future stellarator.