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National Ignition Facility and Photon Science
Advanced masking technology enables new applications for metasurface optics
Optics researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have refined their novel metasurface process to create taller features without increasing feature-to-feature spacing, an advance that unlocks exciting new design possibilities. “We have refined our process to create metasurfaces that allow for a wide optical bandwidth and a large span of incidence angles…
High-performance computing, AI and cognitive simulation helped LLNL conquer fusion ignition
Part 10 a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s fusion breakthrough. For hundreds of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists on the design, experimental, and modeling and simulation teams behind inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the results of the now…
American Society of Safety Professionals honors NIF manager with safety award
The American Society of Safety Professionals, San Francisco Chapter, has awarded Bruno Van Wonterghem, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) Operations manager, with the “Managers Who Get Safety” Award. “I feel both honored and humbled at receiving this award on behalf of my NIF Facility Team,” Van Wonterghem said. “This year we achieved…
Bringing the literature on laser-plasma interactions up to date
For many years, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Pierre Michel, an internationally known expert on the physics of laser-plasma interactions (LPI), saw a gap in his field’s literature: the lack of an up-to-date textbook on LPI relevant to the kind of experiments conducted on LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). Michel was concerned because LPI,…
Telly Awards honor two LLNL videos
The 44th Annual Telly Awards honored Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with five awards for two videos that helped announce the Lab’s Dec. 5, 2022, fusion ignition achievement and visualize how experiments happen at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). LLNL’s Technical Information Department (TID) and the Office of Strategic Communications collaborated on the…
Experiments shed light on pressure-driven ionization in giant planets and stars
Scientists have conducted laboratory experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that provide new insights on the complex process of pressure-driven ionization in giant planets and stars. Their research, published today in Nature, unveils the material properties and behavior of matter under extreme compression, offering important implications for…
Igniting the future: Hundreds gather to celebrate historic fusion achievement
On a day certain to rank in the upper echelon of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s historical milestones, Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officials, members of Congress, past Lab directors, employees and partners gathered on May 8 to celebrate the Lab’s 2022 fusion ignition achievement. Even a light shower couldn’t…
NIF sustainment: Ensuring the next 20 years of progress
Part 9 in a series of articles describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's fusion breakthrough. Having blazed the path to fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers and their collaborators are now making plans for sustained, and even higher, nuclear yields to enable and expand…
NIF and JLF user groups look beyond ignition to bright possibilities in science
Attendees at this year’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) User Groups Meeting celebrated Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) recent fusion ignition breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility, but also kept their focus on looking ahead to a bright future of high energy density (HED) science research. The forward-thinking…
Krell Institute honors Ma with Corones Award
The Krell Institute, a nonprofit organization serving the scientific and educational communities, has awarded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Tammy Ma with its 2023 James Corones Award Leadership, Community Building and Communication. The award, named for the institute’s founder, recognizes mid-career scientists and engineers who are making an…
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…
