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Lasers and Optical S&T
Target evolution is a key to LLNL's continued success
Part 8 in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. The intricate, delicate targets used in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) experiments are marvels of design, engineering and precise manufacturing. “We’ve been working over the last 16 years on continuously…
Lab scientist wins Springer Thesis Award
Elizabeth Grace, the High Energy Density Science (HEDS) Center Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has won a 2023 Springer Thesis Award for her work in short-pulse laser physics. “I am very honored to receive this award from Springer Theses, and I look forward to publication,” Grace said. Her thesis will be published in a book series: Springer Theses:…
LLNL’s Annie Kritcher named to TIME100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world
Time has named Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) design physicist Andrea “Annie” Kritcher to its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The TIME100, now in its 20th year, recognizes the “impact, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals.” Kritcher is recognized for her role as the principal designer for the…
Diagnostics were crucial to LLNL's historic ignition shot
Part 7 in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. Diagnostics — specialized, state-of-the-art measuring instruments — played an essential role in LLNL's Dec. 5, 2022, fusion ignition milestone. The data collected from NIF diagnostics were “really critical for our progress,” said Arthur Pak, team lead for…
Computing codes, simulations helped make ignition possible
Part 6 in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. For Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist George Zimmerman, and for the hundreds of physicists, computer scientists and code developers who have worked on fusion for decades, computer simulations have been inexorably tied to the quest…
Alison Christopherson, Art Pak elected NAS Kavli fellows
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) staff scientists Alison Christopherson and Art Pak have been elected Kavli fellows of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). As new Kavli fellows, they participated in NAS’ annual Kavli Frontiers of Science U.S. symposium, which brings together outstanding young scientists to discuss exciting advances and opportunities in…
NIF’s optics meet the demands of increased laser energy
Part 5 in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. If Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) were a race car, it would run at the redline most of the time. “NIF is the only laser system that intentionally operates above the laser damage growth threshold,” said…
Laser focused: Power and finesse drove fusion ignition success
Fourth in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. To achieve fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF)’s laser system needed to operate flawlessly at both ends of the performance spectrum, delivering immense energies while controlling the energy balance across all 192 laser…
National Academies release report on high energy density science with LLNL contributions
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report, Fundamental Research in High Energy Density Science, which identifies key challenges and science questions for the field of High Energy Density (HED) science for the coming decade and proposes ways to address them. The report follows a year-and-a-half-long consensus study by a committee of 13…
Computational Engineering is key to ignition success
In a room illuminated by blinking lights and glowing monitors, more than 2,000 synchronized computers are triggered to run 5 million lines of code. The intricate code language is responsible for aligning and firing 192 laser beams — and carrying some 800 channels of target diagnostic data — efficiently and reliably several times a day. This isn’t a scene from a science…
Designing for Ignition: Precise changes yield historic results
Second in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world’s biggest laser — three footballs fields could fit inside — but it’s what happened inside a capsule the size of a peppercorn that made scientific history on Dec. 5, 2022. The NIF experiment that produced…
Star Power: Blazing the path to fusion ignition
First in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. It was the middle of the night on Dec. 5, 2022, and anticipation was building among the handful of researchers and technicians in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) control room. A set of pre-shot simulations had predicted a slightly better than 50-50…
NIF’s advances make Summer Scholar Program a coveted internship
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) recent scientific advances, including the achievement of fusion ignition in December, have increased interest among aspiring young scientists for the NIF&PS Summer Scholar Program. “That’s kind of the cool thing about this past year,” said Patrick Poole, the program director. “We had so…
Ignition gives U.S. ‘unique opportunity’ to lead world’s IFE research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s historic achievement of fusion ignition Dec. 5 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) positions the United States with a “unique opportunity” to further lead the world scientific community’s pursuit of developing fusion as a future source of clean energy, according to a newly released report. Capitalizing on that opportunity…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieves fusion ignition
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today (Dec. 13) announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at…
A shot for the ages: Fusion ignition breakthrough hailed as ‘one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century’
Call it the shot heard ‘round the world. The monumental, first-ever demonstration of fusion ignition by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) marks a potentially world-changing breakthrough for fusion energy and a key initial step in a decades-long quest for limitless clean energy, U.S. government officials and LLNL scientists…
LLNL researchers observe that ions behave differently in fusion reactions
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have discovered that ions behave differently in fusion reactions than previously expected, thus providing important insights for the future design of a laser–fusion energy source. The findings are featured in a new paper in the Nov. 14 issue of Nature Physics and is titled “Evidence for suprathermal ion…
'Twisted' laser light experiments offer new insights into plasma physics
Electromagnetic vortices occur naturally throughout the universe and have recently been observed in association with black holes. Over the last decade, scientists have sought methods to investigate how extremely strong electromagnetic vortices interact with matter, specifically plasma, in a laboratory setting. Plasma, known as the “fourth state of matter,” makes up nearly…
Remington honored with American Physical Society award
Bruce Remington, a distinguished member of the technical staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has been honored with the American Physical Society’s (APS) 2023 George E. Duvall Shock Compression Science Award, which recognizes contributions to understanding condensed matter and non-linear physics through shock compression. Since 1987, the award — the…
Developing technology to keep the nuclear stockpile safe, secure and reliable
The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent in 1995, during the Clinton administration. This ending of the era of nuclear testing coincided with a Presidential announcement of the beginning of stockpile stewardship. As the decision…
