Big Ideas Lab Podcast Explores the Future of Fusion Energy

In the latest episode of “The Big Ideas Lab” podcast, learn the next steps needed to turn the dream of fusion energy into reality.

Prominence of LLNL Laser Science on Display at NIF-JLF User Groups Meeting

The progress made to capitalize on and sustain NIF’s capabilities, and the scientific advancements made during JLF’s first full year of operations following a major refurbishment, were highlighted during this year’s NIF and JLF User Groups Meeting.

Introducing El Capitan

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

Showing How Plasma Electrons Can Enhance Fusion Reaction Rates

A NIF Discovery Science campaign is hoping to demonstrate that free electrons in a plasma can help positively charged atomic nuclei “tunnel” through the electrostatic barrier that keeps them apart and fuse.

Ensuring Material Survivability

NIF's increasing shot yields—including the achievement of fusion ignition—enable materials and components to be tested for nuclear survivability at hotter and more intense conditions.

Big Ideas Lab Podcast Takes on NIF Sustainment

LLNL is home to NIF, the only lab on earth where fusion ignition has been achieved and repeated. The latest episode of the Big Ideas podcast tackles the work necessary to keep such a facility running. Listen on Apple or Spotify.

LLNL Selected to Lead Next-Gen Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Research

The Department of Energy has selected a new research partnership led by LLNL that aims to lay the groundwork for the next evolution of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, centered around a Lab-developed system dubbed the BAT laser.

LLNL's Scientific Expertise Highlighted at Plasma Physics Meeting

The breadth and depth of scientific research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was on full display at the 2024 meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics, held Oct. 7-11 in Atlanta.

Consortium with Minority Serving Institutions Delivers Opportunities for HEDS Students

The Consortium for High Energy Density Science, formed to expand and diversify the pipeline of students in high energy density science, had much to celebrate during its annual meeting at LLNL.

LLNL’s Tammy Ma Shares Fusion Energy Vision with TED

What would you do with the largest laser in the world? That’s the question LLNL physicist Tammy Ma posed to the audience on the main stage at the influential TED conference held in April in Vancouver.

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.

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.

Bringing the Literature on Laser-Plasma Interactions Up to Date

For many years, LLNL physicist Pierre Michel, an internationally known expert on the physics of laser-plasma interactions (LPI), saw a gap in his field’s literature: the lack of an up-to-date textbook on LPI relevant to the kind of experiments conducted on NIF.

National Academies Report on HED Science Includes LLNL Contributions

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released a report that identifies key challenges and questions facing the field of high energy density (HED) science and facilities like NIF during the upcoming decade.

A Shot Like No Other

The following is an excerpt from an article by Suzanne Storar in the January/February 2022 issue of Science & Technology Review.

Researchers Use NIF for Deep Dive into Interiors of Red Dwarfs

Red dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the Milky Way, making up 70 percent of all stars.

Breaking the strongest chemical bonds with laser shock compression

New thermodynamic data on warm dense nitrogen might help unlock some of the mysteries regarding the behavior of hydrogen molecules in the early stages of ICF implosions at NIF.

Researchers Focus on Tantalum’s Strength from Ambient to Extreme Conditions

Researchers from LLNL, LANL, and Sandia teamed to better understand the strength of tantalum using conditions accessed by NIF and Sandia’s Z machine.

NIF and JLF User Groups Cite HED Science Successes Amid Pandemic

At this year’s meeting of the NIF and JLF user groups, facility leaders cited a number of HED science successes amid the challenges of the pandemic.

NIF Helps Unravel Mysteries of Heat Conduction in Turbulent Galaxy-Cluster Plasmas

New research just published in Science Advances details how an international team of scientists turned to NIF to help unravel the inner workings of heat conduction in clusters of galaxies—the largest structures in the universe.