Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory



January 23, 2019

Spotlight on:

Experimental Highlights

Rugby Hohlraum Kicks Up NIF’s Energy Efficiency

NIF experiments using a hohlraum shaped like a rugby ball have significantly boosted the amount of laser-induced energy absorbed by an inertial confinement fusion fuel capsule Read more...


Photo of Florida A&M Students at LLNL

LLNL, 3 Universities Form HED Science Alliance

LLNL, Florida A&M University, Morehouse College, and UC Merced have formed the Consortium for High Energy Density Science under a grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration to diversify the pipeline of students who pursue careers in this field. Read more...
Photo of Tom Epperly

A Software Architect Starts Early

For Tom Epperly, writing software is both a lifelong avocation and a hobby. So, working on a major redesign of NIF’s Virtual Beam Line code is a dream come true. Read more...
Nerd Bowl Logo

Fusion Energizes LLNL's Nerd Bowl II Team

Nerd Bowl II is set for Jan. 26, with LLNL’s Lazer Cats seeking flag football glory against teams from Sandia National Laboratories/California, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Facebook. This year’s Lab entry is a fusion of two teams from last year. Read more...
Photo of the LEP Experiment

NIF Experiments Support Warhead Life Extension

Data acquired in NIF experiments are helping weapon designers at LLNL assess replacement options for aged materials in the W80-4 warhead. Read more...
Photo of the Simultaneous VISAR

Making Two Measurements in One Shot

A team of physicists and Target Fabrication designers has devised a “two-for-one” NIF diagnostic platform for measuring the strength of materials under extreme pressure. Read more...
Luc Peterson

Machine Learning Points to New Target Designs

LLNL scientists’ work with the Trinity supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and machine learning could disrupt 40 years of assumptions about inertial confinement fusion. Read more...

December 2018

Researchers Align a Target

Discovery Science Inspires Novel Diagnostics for NIF

Discovery Science Program researchers seeking to explore the physics of far-flung corners of the universe also have inspired many novel or enhanced scientific measurement tools now used at NIF. Read more...
Lick Observatory Guide Star

NIF&PS Delivers a Fiber-based Sodium Laser Guide Star

NIF&PS has delivered a first-of-its-kind, high-power, fiber-based sodium laser guide star to the University of California, Santa Cruz. Read more...
LLNL Researchers Listen to Presentation

A Strong NIF Presence at APS Conference

The NIF & Photon Science Directorate was well represented at the recent 60th annual American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics meeting, which included ten invited talks by LLNL researchers.
Read more...
Two-Micron Fill Tube in a Target Capsule

Two-micron Fill Tubes Fill Two Needs

NIF and General Atomics engineers have created an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) fuel capsule with a 2-micron-diameter fill tube—and along the way, found a solution to a “Bay Bridge”-like dilemma that could have dramatically slowed the process of fabricating NIF capsules. Read more...
Docents Describe NIF Targets

Inspiring Science Careers through STEM Stories

Hoping to inspire the next generation of scientists, NIF’s STEM Day tour guides shared their personal journeys to show how they came to work at the Lab. Read more...
Student's Drawing of Niffy

Looking Back on a Mammoth Discovery

In December 1997, workers at the NIF construction site, while excavating for a utility trench some 30 feet below ground level, unearthed the bones of a prehistoric mammoth. Read more...