Meet the Machines That Matter: The Optics Inspector

What can spot a flaw smaller than a speck of dust from eight meters away, works tirelessly in a vacuum, and is essential to national security experiments at NIF? Meet FODI. Meet the Final Optics Damage Inspection system, or FODI.

Target Breakthrough Enabled Fusion Record at NIF

A major innovation in target design, a process known as continuous gradient doping, has contributed to a series of successful fusion ignition experiments at NIF.

NNSA and LLNL Advance Laser Upgrade for Nuclear Stockpile Mission Ahead of Schedule

The Energy Department and the NNSA have approved a path forward for a project that will increase the laser energy available to NIF at LLNL.

New Report Finds Diagnostic Innovation Critical for Fusion Energy Commercialization

Diagnostic innovation will be key to converting plasma science into commercial fusion power, according to a report sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences program.

Big Ideas Lab Podcast Zooms in on Tiny Targets

This episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast focuses on the tiny targets used at NIF. These are marvels of design, engineering and precision manufacturing that are no bigger than a pencil eraser.

Advanced Radiographic Capability Achievements Featured in Physics of Plasmas

On the cover of Physics of Plasmas: NIF is the hottest place on earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to ARC, NIF’s laser-within-the laser.

When Lasers Cross: LLNL Finds a Brighter Way to Measure Plasma

LLNL scientists have tested a new crossed-laser technique that measures plasma conditions in a single shot, with signals more than a billion times stronger than traditional Thomson scattering.

LLNL and Fraunhofer ILT Partner on Next-Generation Fusion Lasers

LLNL and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) are joining forces to cross-validate their sophisticated laser simulation models.

Where Beam Paths and Career Paths Intersect

As a laser safety officer, Hayden Johnson knows the location and handling protocols for hundreds of lasers across the Lab. Here's why serving in this role is especially fulfilling.

Target Fab's Suhas Bhandarkar: From Inception to Ignition and Beyond

Tiny parts and absolute meticulousness define Suhas Bhandarkar’s award-winning career. He leads a team that helps transform LLNL’s physicists’ bold ideas into reality at NIF.

Using AI for Real-Time Control of Rapid-Fire Lasers

In a major step forward for HED science and inertial fusion energy, LLNL researchers and their colleagues demonstrated how machine learning and AI could exert instantaneous control of a rapid-fire laser system.

New Book Documents Optics Innovations That Were Integral to Ignition

Just published: In Optic Technologies Enabling Fusion Ignition, veteran LLNL optics and laser experts tell the comprehensive story of how they were able to push the performance of those optics beyond what many thought was possible.

LLNL Researchers Employed an AI-Driven Model to Predict Fusion Ignition Shot

LLNL researchers employed an AI-driven model that used deep learning and a “cognitive simulation” framework to successfully predict fusion ignition days ahead of the historic 2022 shot at NIF, according to a new study in Science.

LLNL Pushes Frontier of Fusion Target Design with AI

Researchers at LLNL have reached a milestone in combining AI with fusion target design by deploying AI agents on two of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to automate and accelerate inertial confinement fusion experiments at NIF.

ELI and LLNL Strengthen Collaboration

LLNL and the Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (ELI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that builds on their existing strategic collaboration and reflects the commitment of both to advancing scientific research and laser innovation.

Big Ideas Lab Podcast: How AI Is Reshaping Science at LLNL

As the world moves from the Information Age to the Data Age, AI is not only revolutionizing society—it’s fundamentally transforming how LLNL researchers approach science and played a key role in the achievement of fusion ignition.

LLNL, Amazon partner on groundbreaking AI integration at the National Ignition Facility

Today, LLNL and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a partnership to develop an AI-driven troubleshooting and reliability system for the National Ignition Facility. The team recently completed the first phase of integrating generative AI capabilities into operations.

LLNL Hosts Workshop to Shape the Future of Diode-Pumped Laser Technology

LLNL recently hosted a workshop to assemble the world’s top experts in diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) systems, a key technology for the future of inertial fusion research and energy.

Introducing El Capitan

One of the world’s most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputers helps scientists safeguard the U.S. nuclear stockpile. Read more ...

Ride the Optics Recycle Loop with the Big Ideas Lab Podcast

NIF was designed and built in a way to manage some level of laser damage on the optics nearly every time the laser fires. In this Big Ideas Lab Podcast episode, we take a ride along this Optics Recycle Loop of continuous innovation and ingenuity.