NIF & Photon Science News
Laser Focused: Power and Finesse Drove Fusion Ignition Success
Part 4 of a series: To achieve fusion ignition, NIF’s laser system needed to operate flawlessly at both ends of the performance spectrum, delivering immense energies while controlling the energy balance with extreme precision (see The Age of Ignition for previous stories in this series). Read more...
Fusion Ignition a ‘Hot Topic’ at SPIE Photonics West
A standing-room-only crowd at the recent SPIE Photonics West convention listened raptly to a presentation about how fusion ignition was achieved at NIF. Read more...
Computational Engineering a Key to Ignition Success
The Computational Engineering Division within LLNL’s Engineering Directorate is a critical but largely invisible element of the effort toward achieving nuclear fusion ignition. Read more...
NIF Shots Could Spark Astrophysics Discoveries
Scientists are studying the star-like environment created during NIF laser shots to better understand the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System’s potential as a testbed for nuclear astrophysics research.
Read more...
Special Report: The Age of Ignition
Star Power: Blazing the Path to Fusion Ignition
Part 1: After 12 years of sustained and often frustrating effort and hundreds of experiments, NIF achieved ignition. The first in a series of articles describing the elements of the breakthrough. Read more...
Precise Changes Yield Historic Results
Part 2: Fusion ignition came from a steady evolution of experimental designs, with continuous improvements in diagnostic, optics, and simulation technology, target quality, and the energy and reliability of NIF’s lasers. Read more...
Ignition Experiment Advances Stockpile Stewardship
Part 3: When scientists at LLNL achieved fusion ignition at NIF, the primary mission and driving goal behind the experiment was stockpile stewardship science. Read more...
March 9, 2023
LLNL’s ‘BAT Laser’ R&D Delivers Big Results
LLNL’s research and development of the Big Aperture Thulium (BAT) laser has been living up to its name, delivering big results in a small package. Read more...
March 6, 2023
IAEA Webinar Explores NIF’s Ignition Breakthrough
The research leading to NIF’s fusion ignition milestone was described by Omar Hurricane, chief scientist for LLNL’s ICF program, in an International Atomic Energy Agency webinar. Read more...
March 1, 2023
Gordon Brunton Named NIF Director
Gordon Brunton came to LLNL while taking a sabbatical from his previous job and stayed because of the Lab’s “unique environment.” Now, almost 19 years later, Brunton has been named NIF’s new director. Read more...
February 23, 2023
NIF Couple Share Underwater Adventures
Spotlight: When they need to get away from it all, Bruno and Korbie Le Galloudec have a special place to escape to. It’s beautiful, serene, and filled with wondrous creatures. Read more...
DOE Secretary Honors NIF Teams
NIF’s capsule gain team and fused silica debris shield (FSDS) implementation team won Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Achievement Awards. Read more...
PLS Innovations That Enabled Fusion Breakthrough
Glenn Fox, Physical and Life Sciences associate director, highlights how the directorate’s staff played key roles in enabling LLNL to achieve a first-of-its kind demonstration of fusion ignition at NIF. Read more...
February 2, 2023
U.S. Has ‘Unique Opportunity’ to Lead IFE Research
NIF’s recent scientific advances, including the achievement of fusion ignition, have increased interest among aspiring young scientists for the NIF&PS Summer Scholar Program. Read more...
NIF’s Gains Make Summer Internships Coveted
NIF’s recent scientific advances, including the achievement of fusion ignition, have increased interest among aspiring young scientists for the NIF&PS Summer Scholar Program. Read more...
Meet Zhi Liao, NIF’s Workforce Manager
Zhi Liao’s path from laser scientist to his new role as workforce manager for NIF&PS has come full circle—and is rooted in his early days at LLNL. Read more...
NIF Physicist Named Oppenheimer Science Fellow
Brent Blue, NIF’s National Security Applications manager, is one of four LLNL scientists honored as Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program fellows. Read more...
Fusion Talk Kicks Off ‘Science on Saturday’ Series
LLNL scientists Dave Schlossberg and Derek Mariscal present “Bringing Star Power to Earth: Harnessing Nuclear Fusion” Saturday, Feb. 4, at Las Positas College in Livermore. Read more...
Center Reopens With Target Chamber Model Update
LLNL’s Discovery Center reopened Feb. 1 with an updated model of NIF’s Target Chamber. Read more...
January 12, 2023
LLNL Scientists Cheer Dawn of the ‘Era of Ignition’
NIF’s historic Dec. 5 fusion ignition experiment generated awe, pride, and bright optimism about the future among LLNL employees. Read more...
Ignition ‘True Believer’ Revisits 39 Years at LLNL
After an exciting and highly productive career, NIF Director Doug Larson has retired from LLNL. He played key roles in nearly every aspect of the construction and operation of NIF. Read more...
Video: NIF in the News
We’ve compiled videos of TV and online news coverage of NIF’s ignition shot, including a “60 Minutes” segment and interviews with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and LLNL scientists. And there’s an unaired “Saturday Night Live” skit. View videos...
The Beauty of Additively Manufactured Optics
There’s never been a more exciting time to be working in additively manufactured glass, LLNL’s Rebecca Dylla-Spears said during a glass science and art webinar. Read more...
December 14, 2022
NIF Achieves Fusion Ignition
The Energy Department and NNSA announced the achievement of fusion ignition on Dec. 5 at NIF, a major scientific breakthrough that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. Read more...
Historic Shot Heard ‘Round the World
NIF’s monumental, first-ever demonstration of fusion ignition was hailed as a potentially world-changing breakthrough and a key initial step in a decades-long quest for limitless clean energy. Read more...
VIDEO: Full DOE Press Conference
Watch the Dec. 13 press conference at U.S. Department of Energy headquarters announcing NIF’s historic fusion ignition breakthrough. Watch video...
VIDEO: LLNL Experts Panel
A panel of LLNL experts—Mark Herrmann, Alex Zylstra, Annie Kritcher, Jean-Michel Di Nicola, Michael Stadermann, Arthur Pak, and Tammy Ma—discuss NIF’s fusion ignition breakthrough. Watch video...
NIF Generating News Stories Around the World
NIF achieving ignition is generating news headlines around the world. You can find links to those stories on our In the News and In the News: Video pages. Read more...
December 13, 2022
College Students Learned Building Robots for NIF
A NIF program gave participating students valuable real-world experience building robots and strengthened LLNL’s pipelines to college engineering programs. Read more...
Reaching the Threshold of Ignition
NIF has been poised on the threshold of ignition since August 2021 when an experiment yielded a 1.35-megajoule milestone. Read more...
December 8, 2022
Magnetized Targets Boost Implosion Performance
By imbedding a target capsule in a strong magnetic field, inertial confinement fusion researchers have demonstrated a potential path to sustained high-energy-yield NIF implosions. Read more...
NIF Talks Among Highlights at APS-DPP Conference
LLNL was well represented at the 64th American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics meeting, a largely in-person conference.
Read more...
November 23, 2022
NIF&PS Researchers Elected Optica Fellows
NIF & Photon Science researchers Félicie Albert and Craig Siders have been selected as fellows of Optica (formerly OSA). Read more...
November 17, 2022
Applying Cognitive Simulation to ICF Wins Award
The high performance computing publication HPCwire’s Best Use of HPC in Energy Award goes to LLNL for applying cognitive simulation methods to inertial confinement fusion research at NIF. Read more...
November 16, 2022
Astronauts Launch Mural with Recipes for Success
Four former NASA astronauts, including NIF’s Jeff Wisoff, dedicated a mural painted in their honor by sharing their life’s experiences, wisdom, and advice. Read more...
Laser Safety Officers Convene for DOE Workshop
A workshop showcased how laser safety regulations such as ones developed at LLNL and NIF are helping to raise the standards at academic-based research facilities. Read more...
November 14, 2022
Ions Behave Differently in Fusion Reactions
Just published in Nature Physics: LLNL researchers 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. Read more...
November 8, 2022
Video: ‘The Threshold of Ignition’
In this video, you can follow the journey of NIF’s laser beams as they dramatically increase in energy on their way to the center of the Target Chamber. Read more...
November 7, 2022
Shot Puts NIF Back on Track Toward Ignition
A record high-laser-energy NIF target shot on Sept. 19 produced about 1.2 million joules of fusion energy yield, putting NIF back on track toward ignition. Read more...
November 2, 2022
Black Holes, Astrophysical Plasmas Studied at NIF
NIF experiments are providing a unique opportunity for researchers to study black holes and astrophysical plasmas by creating states of matter at extreme conditions of temperature. Read more...
Meet Caitlin Rowe, LLNL’s Gold Star Intern
Caitlin Rowe has overcome overwhelming obstacles to excel as a college graduate, as a person, and as a Gold Star intern working on nuclear survivability experiments at NIF. Read more...
Bruce Remington Honored with APS Duvall Award
The American Physical Society honored NIF Discovery Science Program Leader Bruce Remington with the George Duvall Shock Compression Science Award. Read more...
Special Report: 30 Years of Stockpile Stewardship
Keeping the Nuclear Stockpile Safe, Secure, Reliable
Part 1: NIF is the crown jewel of the Stockpile Stewardship Program, providing the only testbed capable of investigating high-energy density physics at regimes relevant to the thermonuclear range of conditions. Read more...
Scientific Discovery for Stockpile Stewardship
Part 2: Stewardship science required developing more powerful high-performance computers and lasers capable of creating the most extreme states of matter on Earth. Read more...
People of Stewardship Are the Key to LLNL’s Success
Part 3: All LLNL employees support the stewardship mission in one way or another—in scientific and engineering roles and in many more occupations. Read more...
