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.

How AI Predicted Fusion Ignition Before It Happened

At 1:03 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2022, 192 laser beams at the National Ignition Facility focused 2.05 megajoules of energy onto a peppercorn-sized capsule of frozen hydrogen fuel. In this talk, Humbird and Peterson discussed the breakthrough experiment, nuclear fusion, and how we used machine learning to call the shot heard around the world.

High Performance Computing, AI, and Cognitive Simulation Helped LLNL Conquer Fusion Ignition

Part 10 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

Experiments Shed Light on Pressure-Driven Ionization in Giant Planets and Stars

Scientists have conducted laboratory experiments at LLNL’s NIF that provide new insights on the complex process of pressure-driven ionization in giant planets and stars.

NIF Sustainment: Ensuring the Next 20 Years of Progress

Part 9 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

Iron Under Extremes

Science & Technology Review: LLNL scientists have performed a series of experiments through NIF’s Discovery Science Program to replicate the extreme conditions within super-Earth cores.

Target Evolution Is a Key to NIF’s Continued Success

Part 8 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough

Beyond Diamond: Seeking An Elusive Phase of Carbon

Carbon, an essential ingredient of life on Earth, is a shapeshifter. The extreme strength of carbon-carbon bonds enables the material to take on many different structural forms, called phases or allotropes, at ambient temperatures and pressures. Examples range from the familiar, such as graphite and diamond, to more exotic forms like zero-dimensional fullerenes, 1-D nanotubes, 2-D graphene...

Diagnostics Were Crucial to LLNL’s Historic Ignition Shot

Part 7 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough

Computing Codes, Simulations Helped Make Ignition Possible

Part 6 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough

NIF’s Optics Meet the Demands of Increased Laser Energy

Part 5 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough

Laser Focused: Power and Finesse Drove NIF’s Fusion Ignition Success

To achieve fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF)’s laser system needed to operate flawlessly at both ends of the performance spectrum, delivering immense energies while controlling the energy balance across all 192 laser beams with extreme precision.

Ignition Experiment Advances Stockpile Stewardship Mission

Part 3 of “The Age of Ignition,” a NIF & Photon Science News Special Report describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough