For LLNL physicist Annie Kritcher, the bigger the challenge, the better. Here’s how she became the principal designer on the LLNL team that achieved one of science’s biggest challenges—fusion ignition.
To search for solutions to a puzzle of why the star formation rate is declining, an international team of researchers has turned to the unprecedented capabilities of NIF. Read more...
March 6, 2024
NIF stands to gain from a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project to explore ultrawide bandgap photoconductive devices. Read more...
As a Lab IT systems administrator, John Fisher enjoys the challenge of streamlining workflows and finding efficiencies. It’s a skill he carries over to his hobby—woodworking. Read more...
February 29, 2024
The Fusion Ignition Team and a team that helped tell the world the story of that historic LLNL accomplishment at NIF were among the Lab project teams to earn Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards.
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February 5, 2024
Physical Review Letters (PRL) published one of the first peer-reviewed papers detailing LLNL’s historic achievement of fusion ignition at NIF, with companion papers in PRL and Physical Review E. Read more...
The inside story of how LLNL ICF researchers solved physics and engineering challenges to achieve target energy gain is told in a comprehensive Reviews of Modern Physics article. Read more...
January 29, 2024
Studies using recent ignition experiments indicate an upgrade to 3 MJ of laser energy at NIF could result in fusion output yields in the 30 MJ range. An early stage proposal could turn this idea into reality. Read more...
January 10, 2024
LLNL physicist Dan Casey is leveraging the knowledge gained from the decades-long pursuit of ignition to the quest for clean, safe, and abundant inertial fusion energy. Read more...
Jamie King, LLNL and NIF and Photon Science certified laser safety officer, was named a fellow of the Laser Institute, the organization’s highest level of membership. Read more...
By day, NIF&PS engineer Paul Armstrong heads up an advanced laser applications team. In his spare time, he guides a high school robotics team. Read more...
Time followed LLNL researchers for months as they worked to successfully repeat fusion ignition at NIF in the months following the first historic shot in December 2022. Read more...
January 3, 2024
LLNL HBCU Week’s goal is to increase the number of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Lab staff presented an overview of LLNL research, culture, and career opportunities. Read more...
December 18, 2023
At work, Tayyab Suratwala leads research into grinding and polishing optics for NIF. In his free time, Suratwala immerses himself in faceting brilliant gemstones. Read more...
A year after LLNL achieved fusion ignition at NIF, we have expanded our special report The Age of Ignition with more stories explaining how scientific history was made. Download PDF...
December 12, 2023
In new LLNL experiments at NIF, LLNL scientists measured the extended x-ray absorption fine structure of copper to probe its temperature under extreme pressure. Read more...
In this edition of LLNL’s Inside the Lab video series, science communicator Maren Hunsberger explains what fusion ignition is, how it happened at NIF, and why is it important. Read more...
What do Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and LLNL have in common? We’re all on Google’s list of most searched for figures and moments. We appear at the 1:53 mark of this 25 years of Google Search video: View video...
December 7, 2023
The Energy Department awarded a four-year, $16 million project to a multi-institutional team led by LLNL to accelerate IFE science and technology. This effort will be carried out by a newly established hub named STARFIRE. Read more...
LLNL’s fusion ignition achievement at NIF earned an honorable mention on Physics World’s 2023 Top 10 scientific breakthroughs list for work performed late last year after the publication picked its 2022 winners. Read more...
November 16, 2023
LLNL set a new record for laser energy at NIF, firing 2.2 megajoules (MJ) of energy for the first time on an ignition target. The experiment achieved ignition for the fourth time and delivered the second-highest neutron yield. Read more...
LLNL’s National Security Engineering Division and Defense Technologies Engineering Division have long histories of providing infrastructure for NIF’s operations. Read more...
With 7,500 large optics, 26,000 small optics, and more than 66,000 control points, NIF is a remarkable engineering and technology success story. Read more...
November 14, 2023
Jeff Wisoff, NIF&PS principal associate director, and Jean-Michel Di Nicola, Laser Science & Technology and Systems Engineering organization co-program director, were selected as Optica fellows.
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October 30, 2023
Ibo Matthews, who began his LLNL career helping mitigate NIF optics damage, and Frank Graziani, who works to foster academic collaborations in HED research, were selected as 2023 American Physical Society fellows. Read more...
Thousands of guests eager to see the place where the world’s first ignition reaction occurred lined up for tours during an LLNL open house for family and friends of LLNL employees. Read more...
October 26, 2023
Naturally occurring subatomic particles called muons can help us see inside places like the Great Pyramid of Giza. Now LLNL has partnered with industry and academic partners to rapidly generate muons using lasers. Read more...
October 24, 2023
Early-career staff scientists Kelli Humbird, Chris Young, and Brian Giera connected with Nobel laureates and discussed important global issues at an annual science and technology forum in Japan. Read more...
LLNL physicist Tammy Ma, a member of the LLNL team that achieved ignition at NIF, shared her inspirational career journey as the keynote speaker at the STEM San Joaquin Conference. Read more...
October 18, 2023
LLNL researchers have adapted their novel metasurface process in a way that could transform waveplate technology for high-power laser systems such as NIF. Read more...
October 12, 2023
LLNL hosted a group of student scholars and faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on a recent five-day visit. Read more...
LLNL Director Kim Budil discussed the Lab’s Dec. 5, 2022, achievement of ignition at NIF with the Council on Foreign Relations. Read more...
October 4, 2023
Otto “Nino” Landen, LLNL ICF experiments group leader, and Omar Hurricane, ICF program chief scientist, were presented their Edward Teller Medals during the recent fusion sciences conference. Read more...
LLNL physicist Alex Zylstra has been awarded the 2023 Edouard Fabre Prize for his experimental leadership of the milestone “Hybrid-E” campaign that achieved fusion ignition at NIF. Read more...