2015
November 24, 2015
Lawrence livermore has the highest peak power laser diodes in the world
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has the highest-peak-power laser-diode arrays in the world, which in total produce a peak power of 3.2 MW. The diode arrays, which were developed and fabricated by Lasertel (Tucson, AZ), will act as the primary pump source for the High-Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS), currently under construction at LLNL. (Next Big Future)
November 16, 2015
PPPL to Design a High-Resolution Diagnostic System for the National Ignition Facility
Two U.S. Department of Energy laboratories working on very different types of fusion experiments have begun a novel collaboration. (newswise)
October 22, 2015
Is Nuclear Fusion About to Change Our World?
Imagine a world powered by a cheap, safe, clean, virtually limitless, sustainable fuel source such as water. (CNN) (Video)
October 16, 2015
Shaping fuel compression boosts NIF yield
In a recent series of papers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists examined the role of ablation-front instability and capsule convergence ratio in ignition science experiments at the National Ignition Facility. (Phys.Org)
September 29, 2015
Women in Engineering Student Conversation with the World Renowned Natalia Zaitseva
Lawrence Livermore’s Natalia Zaitseva received worldwide recognition for developing a process that led to growing the largest single optical crystal ever produced. It measured more than 3 feet long and weighed nearly 500 pounds. (IIT Today)
September 24, 2015
Researchers put pressure on hydrogen
A National Ignition Facility experimental campaign may have unlocked scientific secrets behind how hydrogen becomes metallic at high pressure. (Phys.Org)
August 18, 2015
National Ignition Facility fires 300th laser target shot of fiscal year 2015
Last week, the National Ignition Facility fired its 300th laser target shot in fiscal year (FY) 2015, meeting the year’s goal more than six weeks early. In comparison, the facility completed 191 target shots in FY 2014. (NNSA)
August 6, 2015
Work, Kendall Visit Livermore Lab, Nuke Stockpile
With responsibility for surety of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is a “national treasure,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said after visiting the facility yesterday. (DoD News)
July 31, 2015
Ribbon cores promise power boost for fiber lasers
Lawrence Livermore team’s oblong-patterned photonic crystal fibers look set to help pulsed applications first. (optics.org)
June 12, 2015
New Research on Plutonium Heats Up
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California started contributing to the country's nuclear weapons research earlier this year when they debuted experiments on plutonium. (Chem.Info)
June 11, 2015
Measuring the National Ignition Facility’s inferno
Two NIF diagnostics, Dante 1 and Dante 2, are broadband, time-resolved X-ray spectrometers that measure the time-dependent soft X-ray power produced by the NIF lasers interacting with the hohlraum. (Phys.Org)
June 8, 2015
Plutonium Studies Begin At National Ignition Facility
Experiments aim to fill gap left by end of weapons testing. (Chemical & Engineering News)
June 5, 2015
Rays of Hope: Fringe Fusion Ventures Take Small Steps Toward Energy Leap
Multibillion-dollar projects are slowly moving ahead on the nuclear fusion frontier, but less traditional efforts to harness the power that fuels the sun say they're making progress as well. (NBC News)
June 1, 2015
It’ll Be a Blast: Future Lasers May Mimic Space Explosions on Earth
Gamma-ray bursts—explosions lasting no more than a few minutes but that release more energy than the sun will emit in its lifetime—may be coming to Earth via the world’s most powerful lasers. (Space.com)
May 25, 2015
The art of hand-polishing precision optics
As one of the few remaining practitioners of hand-polishing optics, Peter Thelin is passing his artistry along to the next generation of optics specialists. (Phys.Org)
May 4, 2015
Researchers toss around rugby-shaped hohlraums for ignition experiments
One of the candidates for alternate NIF targets is a rugby football-like hohlraum shape, which resembles a cylinder with the corners of the can rounded off to minimize surface area. (R&D Magazine)
May 1, 2015
Promising new X-ray microscope poses technical challenges
Squeezing a three-meter-long X-ray microscope into the space between the end of the diagnostic insertion manipulator (DIM) and the inner wall of the NIF Target Bay has created unique design, logistic and engineering challenges. (Phys.Org)
April 30, 2015
Unlocking the secrets of star creation
On April 1, 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope captured the famous images of the "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula. Twenty years later to the day, the NIF Team conducted the first experiment in a new Discovery Science campaign aimed at finding clues to the mystery of how stars are born in these spectacular cosmic formations. (Phys.Org)
April 27, 2015
Thinner capsules yield faster implosions
NIF researchers have been testing target capsules that are 10 to 15 percent thinner than normal. The experiments aim to determine if the thinner capsules can produce higher-velocity implosions with better symmetry than the capsules used in previous experiments. (R&D Magazine)
March 23, 2015
Lawrence Livermore and GE to develop algorithms for 3D printing
General Electric and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have received US$540,000 from America Makes to develop open-source algorithms that will improve additive manufacturing of metal parts. (metalpowder report.net)
March 13, 2015
Livermore Pushes Beyond Flashlamps to Boost Laser Repetition Rates
Diode arrays to become part of European high-energy research facility. (Photonics.com)
March 6, 2015
Studying effects of target ‘tents’ on NIF
A systematic study of the effects on NIF implosions of the ultra-thin mounting membranes that support target capsules inside NIF hohlraums was reported by LLNL researchers in a Physics of Plasmas paper published online Feb. 4. (Phys.Org)
March 6, 2015>
Determining structural evolution under pressure
The study of material properties under the conditions of extreme high pressures and strain rates is very important for understanding meteor, asteroid or comet impacts, as well as in hyper velocity impact engineering and inertial confinement fusion capsules. (R&D Magazine)
March 4, 2015
Watching the Nuclear Detectives’ Forensic Data
NIF is playing a growing role in LLNL’s nuclear forensics work by providing radioactive samples from nuclear fusion experiments for analysis. (Forensic Magazine)
March 3, 2015
ELI pump laser installed at Lawrence Livermore
Engineers from Northrop Grumman’s Cutting Edge Optronics subsidiary helped install injection-seeded laser for LLNL’ High-repetition-rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS). (optics.org)
January 30, 2015
Despite objections, Livermore lab to fire world’s largest laser at plutonium
Tests on non-weapons grade plutonium are moving forward at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Lab, and may even already have taken place. (Contra Costa Times)
