The Fire That Powers the Universe: Harnessing Inertial Fusion Energy

It was a laser shot for the ages. By achieving fusion ignition on December 5, 2022, LLNL proved that recreating the “fire” that fuels the sun and the stars inside a laboratory on Earth was indeed scientifically possible.

ICECap Looks to Use Exascale ICF Simulations to Pioneer Digital Design

A multidisciplinary LLNL research team is combining the power of exascale computing with AI, advanced workflows, and graphics processor acceleration to revolutionize the digital designs of high-yield ICF experiments.

‘Big Ideas Lab’ Podcast: A Two-Episode Series on Ignition

In the next two episodes of the "Big Ideas Lab" podcast, delve into what it took to achieve ignition—an accomplishment that was over 60 years in the making—and what it means for national security and the future of clean energy.

Mordy Rosen Shares the Long Road to Ignition

In a paper published in Physics of Plasmas, longtime LLNL physicist Mordy Rosen details decades of pivotal events and daily challenges that led up to ignition at NIF in 2022.

Research Confirms Importance of Symmetry in Pre-Ignition Fusion Experiments

LLNL researchers have retrospectively confirmed that implosion asymmetry was a major aspect for fusion experiments before achieving ignition for the first time at NIF, the world’s most energetic laser.

LLNL Researchers Uncover Key to Resolving ICF Hohlraum Drive Deficit

LLNL researchers made advancements in resolving the long-standing “drive-deficit” problem in indirect-drive ICF experiments. This could pave the way for more accurate predictions and improved performance of fusion experiments at NIF.

Two LLNL Physicists Honored for International Collaboration

LLNL physicists Hye-Sook Park and George Swadling, Anna Grassi of France’s Sorbonne University, and former Lawrence Fellow Frederico Fiuza of Portugal’s Técnico Lisboa, received the 2024 Lev D. Landau and Lyman Spitzer Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to Plasma Physics.

Advancements in Z-Pinch Fusion: New Insights From Plasma Pressure Profiles

LLNL scientists reported advancements in understanding plasma pressure profiles within flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion, a candidate for achieving net gain fusion energy in a compact device.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Understanding the Plasticity of Diamond for Improved Fusion Ignition

Alex Li, an LLNL summer student in the Computational Chemistry and Materials Science Summer Institute, recently led a study to investigate the evolution of plasticity in diamond.

LLNL develops portable Thomson scattering diagnostic to support ARPA-E’s fusion energy ventures

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) collaborated with University of California San Diego (UCSD) to design, assemble, and field a portable optical Thomson scattering diagnostic system for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

From “60 Minutes” to “SNL,” Fusion Ignition News Thrusts LLNL into the Zeitgeist

Part 11 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility

New NIF Experimental Platform Will Probe Warm Dense Matter

Warm dense matter (WDM) is present in the interior of planets and some stars and is also produced in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. A new NIF platform will provide unique, high-quality experimental data to guide the complex models required to simulate the properties of WDM.