News

LLNL Presents on Fusion Energy at Industry Collaboration Event

LLNL officials gave a presentation on translating the Lab’s historic December 2022 achievement of fusion ignition into a viable source of commercial fusion power.

Ignition Continues to Spark Interest in NIF&PS Intern Program

The NIF&PS Summer Scholar Program enjoyed another record year in 2024—and, once again, the fusion ignition milestone at LLNL in 2022 was cited as a key reason for the continuing surge of interest.

Livermore Lab Foundation Selects LLNL Fusion Fellows for 2024

The Livermore Lab Foundation this summer honored two LLNL student interns as 2024 Fusion Fellows.

Diagnostics Explored the ‘Unknowns’ in NIF Ignition Experiments

A recent Physics of Plasmas paper showed how sophisticated diagnostic equipment played a central role in testing the ICF models, simulations, and experimental designs used in laser shots that led to ignition at NIF.

Mordy Rosen Shares the Long Road to Ignition

In a paper published in Physics of Plasmas, longtime LLNL physicist Mordy Rosen details decades of pivotal events and daily challenges that led up to ignition at NIF in 2022.

Celebrate Ignition, Science, Art in San Ramon

Save the Date: On Sunday, Sept. 29, from 2-4 p.m., City Center Bishop Ranch will host a celebration of ignition, science, and the LLNL-designed art installation "Bringing Star Power to Earth."

Shreds With the Best of Them

Gary Tham, a NIF optical fabrication technician, hadn't gone mountain biking for about 27 years. Here's how he rekindled his passion for the sport.

LLNL Hosts French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission Leaders

Top leaders of the CEA recently visited LLNL, accentuating a rich shared history of collaboration on fundamental science that supports stockpile stewardship.

Spot-Shadowing Damage on Laser Optics

Technology named Laser Energy Optimization by Precision Adjustments to the Radiant Distribution (LEOPARD) enhances the performance of NIF.

LLNL’s Kritcher Receives Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award

Annie Kritcher, design physicist and lead for integrated modeling in the Inertial Confinement Fusion program at LLNL, has been honored with the 2024 David J. Rose Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award by Fusion Power Associates.

Automated Target Measurements Contribute to LLNL's Ignition Success

An advanced technique for characterizing high-quality target capsules for NIF experiments has played an important role in LLNL's recent success in repeatedly achieving fusion ignition.

LLNL Intern Applies Lessons Learned from Home, Family

Brianna Barbee is taking a childhood lesson from her mother to heart—and it figured into her summer internship at LLNL.

Lab Scientists Win Three R&D 100 Awards

LLNL scientists and engineers, including a team from the NIF & Photon Science Diffractive Optics Group, have earned three awards among the top 100 inventions worldwide.

SPIE Names LLNL’s Zhi Liao a Senior Member

LLNL's Zhi Liao, the NIF&PS workforce manager, has been elected as a senior member of SPIE, the international society for optics and phonics.

A New Dimension of Glass

Scientists and engineers from NIF&PS and Physical and Life Sciences developed a process for generating trillions of nanoscale structures on meter-scale glass surfaces. Read the full story in Science & Technology Review.

Two LLNL Researchers Named to Optica’s 2024 Class of Senior Members

Paul Armstrong, a NIF&PS engineer, and Brent Stuart, operations manager for the Jupiter Laser Facility, have been named senior members of Optica.

Research Confirms Importance of Symmetry in Pre-Ignition Fusion Experiments

LLNL researchers have retrospectively confirmed that implosion asymmetry was a major aspect for fusion experiments before achieving ignition for the first time at NIF, the world’s most energetic laser.

Putting the Squeeze on Helium

Researchers are developing a way to “precompress” helium under very high pressure, then blasting it with NIF’s lasers to compress it even further. They want to learn the roles of density and temperature in converting liquid helium from an insulator to a metallic substance able to conduct electricity.

Fusion Power Associates Honors LLNL’s Bruno Van Wonterghem

NIF Operations Manager Bruno Van Wonterghem is being honored for "decades of tenacious dedication to scientific and operational excellence" at LLNL.

LLNL’s Tammy Ma Shares Fusion Energy Vision with TED

What would you do with the largest laser in the world? That’s the question LLNL physicist Tammy Ma posed to the audience on the main stage at the influential TED conference held in April in Vancouver.