News

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.

Engineering Divisions Provide Expertise to Support Fusion Energy’s Future

LLNL's National Security Engineering Division and Defense Technologies Engineering Division have long histories of providing infrastructure for NIF's operations.

NIF: An Engineering Marvel

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.

NIF’s Jeff Wisoff and Jean-Michel Di Nicola Elected Optica Fellows

Peter J.K. (Jeff) Wisoff, principal associate director of LLNL’s NIF and Photon Science (NIF&PS) Directorate, and Jean-Michel Di Nicola, co-program director for the NIF&PS Laser Science & Technology and Systems Engineering organization, have been selected as fellows of Optica (formerly OSA).

Ibo Matthews, Frank Graziani Named American Physical Society Fellows

LLNL’s Manyalibo (Ibo) Matthews, who began his Livermore career helping mitigate optics damage on NIF, and Frank Graziani, who works to foster academic collaborations in high energy density (HED) research which often relies on NIF, have been selected as 2023 American Physical Society (APS) fellows.

LLNL hosts thousands of enthusiastic explorers for Open House 2023

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.

LLNL-led Project to Advance Muon-Based Imaging in DARPA-Funded Initiative

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.

Young leaders learn from Nobel Laureates at Science and Technology in Society Forum

Early-career staff scientists Kelli Humbird, Chris Young and Brian Giera connected with Nobel Laureates and discussed important global issues ranging from AI to climate change at the 20th annual meeting of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Kyoto, Japan.

STEM San Joaquin Conference celebrates 31 years

The STEM San Joaquin Conference, formerly known as San Joaquin Expanding Your Horizons, invited students grades 6-12 for its annual event

In a First, LLNL Researchers Create Birefringent All-Glass Metasurface

LLNL researchers have adapted their novel metasurface process, which creates a thin layer on the surface of an optic, to create an all-glass metasurface with birefringence, or dual refraction, properties. This achievement could transform waveplate technology for high-power laser systems such as NIF.

LLNL Hosts HBCU Students, Faculty to Build New Pipeline of Talent

For the second consecutive year, LLNL hosted a group of student scholars and faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on a recent five-day visit.

Nuclear Fusion and the Future of Energy

LLNL Director Kim Budil discussed the Lab’s Dec. 5, 2022 achievement of ignition at NIF with the Council on Foreign Relations. The discussion is moderated by Carolyn Kissane, associate dean and clinical professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.

Physicist Otto “Nino” Landen Receives Prestigious Edward Teller Award

Otto “Nino” Landen, a distinguished member of the technical staff and the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments group leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has been awarded the 2023 Edward Teller Medal.

LLNL Experimental Physicist Awarded 2023 Fabre Prize

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 the National Ignition Facility (NIF).