News

Annie Kritcher: Tackling the Biggest Challenges

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.

More Shots, More Potential for Success

NIF stands to gain from a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project to explore ultrawide bandgap photoconductive devices.

John Fisher: As the Wood Turns

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.

Lab employees recognized with Secretary of Energy’s Honor Awards

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.

Tracing the Steps to LLNL’s Fusion Ignition Breakthrough

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.

LLNL’s Breakthrough Ignition Experiment Highlighted in Physical Review Letters

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.

Enhanced Yield Capability Proposal Aims to Boost NIF Yield

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.

Inside the Facility That Changed the World

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...

LLNL Laser Safety Officer Jamie King Named Laser Institute Fellow

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.

Dan Casey: Applying Ignition’s Lessons to Inertial Fusion Energy

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.

Paul Armstrong

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.

LLNL HBCU Week Showcases Lab Expertise, Culture, Work-Life Balance

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.

Who Works at NIF: The Zen of the Gem

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...

The Age of Ignition: Anniversary Edition

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.

Probing the Temperature of Materials Under Extreme Pressure at NIF

In new LLNL experiments at NIF, scientists measured the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of copper to probe its temperature under extreme pressure. The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Video: What is Fusion Ignition

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...

Ignition at NIF Makes Google’s Most Searched List

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...

LLNL-Led Team Receives DOE Award to Establish Inertial Fusion Energy Hub

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.

Physics World Honors LLNL’s Ignition Breakthrough

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...

LLNL’s NIF Delivers Record Laser Energy

On Oct. 30, LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) set a new record for laser energy, firing 2.2 megajoules (MJ) of energy for the first time on an ignition target.