The project will investigate materials under extreme fusion conditions.David Baillot/UC San Diego
In a bid to power the state’s clean-energy future, the University of California has awarded $8 million in research grants over three years to accelerate nuclear-fusion innovation across multiple UC campuses.
The goal is to position California as a global leader in fusion power.
At UC Santa Cruz, physicists have secured $555,000 to develop a next-generation monitoring system for future fusion plants.
Their approach relies on an unlikely hero, artificial diamonds engineered to detect the nuclear “burn” products released during fusion reactions.
Diamonds are prized for their ability to survive extreme radiation, a non-negotiable requirement inside a commercial fusion reactor.
For years, researchers at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) have advanced silicon-based particle-detection systems known as low-gain avalanche diodes, or LGADs.
But silicon simply can’t withstand the blistering radiation conditions expected in fusion facilities or in missions destined for deep space.
Enter diamond sensors
That limitation pushed SCIPP to partner with Advent Diamond, a small business capable of fabricating these sensors using diamond substrates instead of silicon.
The collaboration took root after SCIPP’s $48,000 seed grant, the critical early funding that traditional agencies had avoided supplying.
“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, the Long Family Professor of Experimental Physics.
He added that seed support “enabled a collaboration that we have sought to get off the ground for several years now.”
These diamond-based detectors are precisely the kind of hardware future fusion reactors will require. By tracking the burn profile of each fusion pulse, the technology could provide real-time diagnostics in an environment that would destroy conventional sensors.
Fusion momentum builds
Fusion—the same reaction powering the sun—generates no greenhouse gases, produces minimal waste, and runs on hydrogen. After the UC-managed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved fusion ignition in 2022, repeating it several times with growing energy output, interest in the field surged.
Private investment has crossed $10 billion, and the U.S. Energy Department has launched fusion-energy hubs to speed commercialization. Meanwhile, California’s Senate Bill 25 supports a statewide fusion ecosystem and envisions a pilot plant as early as 2030.
Against this backdrop, the UC Initiative for Fusion Energy issued two grants of $4 million each to interdisciplinary teams across five campuses and two national labs. The funding comes from the university’s management fee income from Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos.
Next-gen fusion toolkit
Still, major engineering challenges remain before fusion can reach commercial readiness. UC Santa Cruz joins researchers from UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Irvine, and national-lab partners to probe materials under intense fusion conditions and build diagnostics capable of surviving them.
The effort is led by UC San Diego’s Farhat Beg and guided by the “three Ms”—model, manufacture, and measure.
At SCIPP, assistant research scientist Simone Mazza will lead development of an “extreme radiation-hardened” plasma-monitoring system.
“Despite significant progress, important questions pertinent to engineering and design challenges remain before fusion energy can successfully transition from the laboratory to a commercially viable power plant,” Mazza said. “A coordinated effort is warranted.”
The work aligns with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s priority to unleash fusion innovation and help meet rising national power needs.
California, too, is deepening its commitment. In October 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom dedicated $5 million to support fusion commercialization, aiming for the world’s first pilot plant in the state by the 2040s.
