News

Video: Igniting Scientific Discovery with AI and Supercomputing

LLNL’s ignition breakthrough at NIF was enabled by a combination of traditional fusion target design methods, world-class supercomputing, and artificial intelligence techniques.

Video: The Latest Developments in Fusion Energy

In a presentation at the United Kingdom’s Royal Institution, LLNL plasma physicist Tammy Ma discussed ICF experiments at NIF and explained why “we are at a pivotal moment in fusion research.

Jupiter Laser Facility Gets a Reboot

JLF helps to “deliver what we need for stockpile stewardship and Discovery Science,” NIF & Photon Science Principal Associate Director Jeff Wisoff said during the facility’s reopening celebration.

Machine Learning Optimizes High-Power Laser Experiments

LLNL, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, and Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI ERIC) scientists collaborated on an experiment that used machine learning to optimize performance of the L3-HAPLS laser, which was developed at LLNL.

World’s Most Powerful Supercomputers List

Three new systems currently or soon-to-be sited at LLNL, including one already used to model ICF experiments at NIF, debuted on the latest Top500 list of most powerful supercomputers in the world.

STEM Day Students Tour NIF

LLNL hosted about 200 students and chaperones from the Central Valley for “STEM Day at the Lab,” which included a tour of NIF that was supported by 37 volunteers.

Comic Book Tells the Story of Ignition

LLNL illustrator John Jett used comic book art as another method for explaining how a Lab experiment at NIF made history.

Celebrating World Intellectual Property Day

The NIF and Photon Science directorate has a strong portfolio of lasers and optics patents.

Video: Simulation of Burning Plasma Shot on NIF

What does burning plasma look like? This simulation of a pivotal fusion experiment at NIF is an example of a next-generation multi-physics code that could advance high performance computing and engineering.

Ignition Takes Center Stage at NIF and JLF User Groups Meeting

Ignition took center stage at this year’s LLNL National Ignition Facility and Jupiter Laser Facility (NIF and JLF) User Groups Meeting.

Carolyn Albiston: A Modern Renaissance Woman

NIF Shot Data Systems software engineer Carolyn Albiston was curious about everything while growing up—sharks, fungi, the science of color—and about how different topics fit together.

LLNL’s Raspberry Simpson Named Kavli Fellow

Raspberry Simpson, a NIF&PS Directorate Lawrence Fellow, has been named a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow.

Postdocs to Attend Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

Getting the chance to meet and mingle with scientists who have achieved Nobel Prize winning greatness will be the reality for five LLNL postdoctoral appointees, including Raspberry Simpson and Elizabeth Grace of NIF&PS.

Throwing Shade on Optics Damage

If the sun’s too bright, you don sunglasses to prevent glare from damaging your eyes. LLNL researchers are using this same strategy to mitigate damage to valuable optics at NIF.

Upgrading Facilities and Experiences

LLNL’s new Laser Induced compression for Grain scale with High Throughput (LIGHT) facility can produce the same conditions as NIF’s Direct Light Impulse testing strategy on a 1-centimeter scale.

Supercomputer Simulations of Super-Diamond Suggest a Path to Its Creation

Another form of carbon has been predicted to be even tougher than diamond. The challenge, which inspires ongoing Discovery Science experiments at NIF, is how to create it on Earth.

Using NIF to Study the Sluggish Pace of Star Formation

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.

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.