The article mentions that the reaction had a 4% yield with lasers that are 0.5% efficient. The 100% yield scenario would yield 75MJ of energy. Modern lasers t

The article mentions that the reaction had a 4% yield with lasers that are 0.5% efficient. The 100% yield scenario would yield 75MJ of energy. Modern lasers that are 20% efficient would require 10MJ instead of 400MJ for the reaction. In theory we only need a 13% yield with modern lasers to reach breakeven. 9% with 30%, 7% with 40%, etc Note that this is just for this particular pellet they tested - larger pellets likely have better yields due to scaling laws, but would require a more powerful laser array. I think the article is rather pessimistic, understandably so, but doesn’t really paint an accurate picture of the progress made. If anything, we are closer than we think.