The Center serves as a bridge between LLNL groups and external institutions involved in LaserNetUS, a network of high-intensity laser systems across North America based at universities and national labs. LaserNetUS is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and LLNL’s Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) is part of this network.
The consortium fosters access to state-of-the-art laser systems for researchers, as well as students who want to gain hands-on research experience at a LaserNetUS facility. In addition, it cultivates collaborations between scientists who want to advance the frontiers of ultra-fast laser science and its applications.
DOE funding enables LaserNetUS facilities to dedicate a portion of their operational time to support user experiments. This access provides opportunities for researchers to try out new experimental ideas, develop novel techniques, and train tomorrow’s innovators at a high-intensity laser facility.
LaserNetUS also offers a technical exchange program across the network’s facilities. Technical staff from network institutions visit other LaserNetUS facilities, exchange information, and offer insights regarding ways to strengthen operations, thereby improving the user experience across the network.
Scientists who apply for user time at JLF typically conduct research in areas such as plasma physics, materials science, condensed-matter chemistry, and high-energy physics. In addition, LLNL scientists benefit from involvement in LaserNetUS by learning alongside JLF users, while also participating in user-driven experiments at other LaserNetUS facilities.
LaserNetUS was established in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Energy, and JLF is a founding member of the consortium.
Contact
- Félicie Albert
- %20albert6 [at] llnl.gov (albert6[at]llnl[dot]gov)
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The HEDS Center contributes to LLNL’s involvement in the STARFIRE Hub for inertial fusion energy (IFE), a multi-institutional effort funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that brings together expertise and capabilities across national labs, academia, and industry to advance foundational IFE science and technology and invest in our nation’s future IFE workforce. IFE uses short, intense laser or beam pulses to implode a tiny fuel pellet and generate fusion energy.
The acronym “STARFIRE” articulates the focus of this research hub: Science and Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation and Reactor Engineering. STARFIRE Hub partners are working together to develop IFE laser architectures and robust, mass manufacturable, high-gain target designs underpinned by integrated plant design and system models. It will also focus on developing the future IFE workforce through partnerships with leading universities.
Explore the STARFIRE Hub’s working group that focuses on diode technology and IFE
Learn more about the DOE funding award to establish the STARFIRE Hub
The HEDS Center contributes to LLNL’s involvement in ZNetUS, a consortium of researchers from academia and national labs who are dedicated to advancing pulsed magnetic science, technology, and HED physics for energy and national security applications. The consortium also focuses on creating a pipeline of next-generation scientific leaders. ZNetUS is part the U.S. Department of Energy’s HED Laboratory Plasmas program.
The ZNetUS user facility program includes LLNL’s MegaJOuLe Neutron Imaging Radiography (MJOLNIR) facility, a dense plasma focus and pulsed power platform. The versatile experimental platform can serve as a testbed for new diagnostics in hard radiation environments, a springboard for experimental concepts before deployment at single-shot flagship facilities such as LLNL’s National Ignition Facility or Sandia’s Z facility, and as a pipeline and training ground for the future workforce in the areas of pulsed power, plasma physics, and HEDS.
Learn more about experiments that incorporate LLNL’s MJOLNIR dense plasma focus instrument.
Explore how scientists developed and use LLNL’s dense plasma focus instrument.
The Consortium for High Energy Density Science (CfHEDS) includes LLNL, Florida A&M University, Morehouse College, and the University of California, Merced. The aim of the consortium is to expand educational opportunities for students and research collaborations among the participating institutions.
As part of the consortium’s initiatives, LLNL scientists help develop an enhanced HEDS curriculum for students at the participating institutions. They also foster undergraduate student interest in HEDS careers through colloquia, summer internships, and other events, and they expand opportunities for students and faculty to partner with LLNL researchers on HEDS research.
The HEDS Center is the focal point for LLNL’s engagement with Osaka University in Japan, which involves collaborative research spanning a broad range of HEDS areas, including picosecond laser‒plasma interactions, collisionless shock experiments, and ultra-fast neutron detector diagnostics. In addition, Osaka University scientists travel to Livermore for experiments at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility, and they help model results. LLNL scientists also travel to Japan to conduct precursor experiments at the Laser for Fast Ignition Experiments (LFEX) at Osaka University.
The collaboration includes opportunities for faculty sabbaticals, scientist exchanges, and student internships. For example, Professor Fujioka from Osaka University spent a sabbatical year at LLNL conducting computational research in fast ignition. The HEDS Center at LLNL then hosted his graduate student, Hiroki Morita for a six-month residence at LLNL, as part of his research regarding transport models of fast ignition experiments.
Learn more about LLNL’s collaboration with Osaka University.
The HEDS Center teamed up with the University of California (UC) to create the UC Livermore Collaboration Center, a hub for shared initiatives. This collaborative effort enables both institutions to host workshops, panel discussions, facility tours, and other educational activities for UC students at a site located just outside LLNL’s gates, connecting with UC undergraduate and graduate students from across California who want to learn more about HEDS research.
In addition, LLNL scientists collaborate with UC faculty on curriculum development initiatives. For example, LLNL experts from the Lab’s Jupiter Laser Facility are collaborating with UC faculty to develop and deliver a brief, hands-on course regarding diagnostic techniques.
Internal Connections Across LLNL
The HEDS Center creates opportunities for scientists and engineers from across LLNL’s directorates and HEDS-related facilities to connect with each other and participate in pivotal activities that contribute to the Lab’s national security mission. As we strengthen these connections, we create a more integrated, multidisciplinary research environment, where experimentalists and computational physicists—including staff, postdocs, and interns—collaborate on groundbreaking research, improving research outcomes.
In addition, by strengthening connections that foster innovative research, we also provide opportunities for LLNL staff to mentor and train interns and early career staff. This type of engagement sparks new ideas regarding topics to cover during HEDS Center seminars, or through specialized training programs that can benefit scientists who come from different research backgrounds and use different tools. For example, we bring together scientists and engineers who are exploring inertial fusion energy, stockpile modernization, plasma science, space science, data science, and quantum computing, helping to ensure that they are ready to address tomorrow’s research challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective.
