News

LLNL, Las Positas College Offer Laser Optics Workshop

LLNL and Las Positas College are again offering a summer course to help meet a growing demand for laser and optics technicians for NIF and other laser systems.

Meet the Machines That Matter: The Optics Inspector

What can spot a flaw smaller than a speck of dust from eight meters away, works tirelessly in a vacuum, and is essential to national security experiments at NIF? Meet FODI. Meet the Final Optics Damage Inspection system, or FODI.

LLNL Experts Help Advance Inertial Fusion Energy at U.S. IFE Conference

Researchers from LLNL joined their counterparts from national laboratories, universities, industry, and government in a conference to discuss the progress, challenges, and priorities for moving toward an inertial fusion energy future in the U.S.

Igniter Awards Honor NIF&PS Culture Builders

The NIF&PS directorate honored the recipients of the 2025 NIF&PS Igniter Awards: Anne Provost, Arsenia Rendon, John Jett, and Raspberry Simpson for outstanding commitment to building a positive, innovative work culture within NIF&PS.

Target Breakthrough Enabled Fusion Record at NIF

A major innovation in target design, a process known as continuous gradient doping, has contributed to a series of successful fusion ignition experiments at NIF.

LLNL Partners with Inertia to Develop Fusion Energy Technology

Scientists from LLNL are partnering with San Francisco Bay Area startup Inertia Enterprises Inc. to advance fusion laser technology, as well as inertial fusion target manufacturing and designs.

NNSA and LLNL Advance Laser Upgrade for Nuclear Stockpile Mission Ahead of Schedule

The Energy Department and the NNSA have approved a path forward for a project that will increase the laser energy available to NIF at LLNL.

Livermore Institute for Fusion Technology Honored for Innovation

The East Bay Economic Development Alliance honored LLNL with a 2026 East Bay Innovation Award in the Catalyst Category for the Livermore Institute for Fusion Technology (LIFT).

Optics Education Summit Targets a Growing Need for Laser and Photonics Experts

At a summit organized by NIF&PS leaders, educators from around the country discussed steps they can take to help grow the pipeline of skilled optics and photonics workers needed to feed increasing demand.

New Report Finds Diagnostic Innovation Critical for Fusion Energy Commercialization

Diagnostic innovation will be key to converting plasma science into commercial fusion power, according to a report sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences program.

LLNL Optics Expert Wren Carr Named SPIE Fellow

LLNL's Wren Carr was selected as a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. He is the science and technology group leader for NIF laser-induced damage and mitigation science.

NIF and JLF User Groups Celebrate Milestones and New Capabilities

New laser shaping and diagnostic tools, record fusion achievements, and growing industry partnerships that enhance national security and Discovery Science research were highlighted at the 2026 NIF and Jupiter Laser Facility User Groups meeting.

LLNL Physicist Finds Beauty, Peace, and Flow in Nordic Skiing

From dialing in ski wax and stride timing to shaping laser pulses at NIF, LLNL physicist Jean-Michel Di Nicola knows how Nordic skiing and inertial confinement fusion can both depend on maximizing energy and precision timing.

Big Ideas Lab Podcast Zooms in on Tiny Targets

This episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast focuses on the tiny targets used at NIF. These are marvels of design, engineering and precision manufacturing that are no bigger than a pencil eraser.

Advanced Radiographic Capability Achievements Featured in Physics of Plasmas

On the cover of Physics of Plasmas: NIF is the hottest place on earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to ARC, NIF’s laser-within-the laser.

The Big Ideas Lab Podcast Learns to Create a Supernova on Earth

Here on Earth, scientists are exploring astrophysical phenomena in a special lab — NIF. This one-of-a-kind program, called NIF Discovery Science, is the focus of the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast.

Lab Physicist Wins Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize

LLNL scientist Elizabeth Grace won the 2026 European Physical Society-Plasma Physics Division Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize for groundbreaking work in developing a single-shot laser imaging technique.

LIFT Director Tammy Ma Featured in Washington Post’s 'Post Next' 2026

The Washington Post profiled Tammy Ma, director of LLNL's Livermore Institute for Fusion Technology, as part of the newspaper's "Post Next" list of 50 people who will define the stories of 2026. Read more ...

When Lasers Cross: LLNL Finds a Brighter Way to Measure Plasma

LLNL scientists have tested a new crossed-laser technique that measures plasma conditions in a single shot, with signals more than a billion times stronger than traditional Thomson scattering.

Fusion Power Associates Honors NIF Target Innovator Abbas Nikroo

Abbas Nikroo, deputy director for physics integration at LLNL's National Ignition Facility, received the 2025 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates.