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Jupiter Laser Facility
Two LLNL researchers named to Optica’s 2024 class of senior members
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers Paul Armstrong and Brent Stuart have been named senior members of Optica. The professional society’s senior membership status recognizes members with more than 10 years of professional experience in optics or an optics-related field. The 2024 class joins a distinguished group of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs…
The drive to break a swimming record
Five-time Olympic trials competitor Brandon Fischer knows how to persevere. As one of the oldest competitors in this year’s Olympic trials, the Lawrence Livermore Natonal Laboratory mechanical technologist at the Jupiter Laser Facility broke the 35-39 Masters World Record in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events. Fischer’s first foray into the water was in the …
Finding Livermore: Employees share their LLNL origin stories
With more than 70 years of history and nearly 9,000 current employees, it is not uncommon for several generations of family members to have worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). For those employees with parents or grandparents preceding them, a career at the Laboratory was not in their original plans. In fact, before coming to LLNL, many do not realize…
Jupiter Laser Facility gets a reboot
Fifty years ago, the first laser, Janus, was installed in Building 174 (renamed the Jupiter Laser Facility in 2006) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Additional lasers, more than 100 Ph.D.s granted time on the system and thousands of international users later, the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) celebrated its grand reopening Thursday after a four-year refurbishment,…
LLNL’s Jupiter Laser Facility funding renewed for additional research in discovery science
The Department of Energy’s Office of Science recently announced $28.5 million for LaserNetUS to advance discovery science and inertial fusion energy. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is one of nine facilities operating high-intensity, ultrafast lasers that will receive additional funding. LaserNetUS is North America's high intensity laser research network…
A passion for physics drives Danny Attiyah
This summer, Danny Attiyah, a third-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Irvine, will develop theory, create simulations and put those simulations to the test in a long experimental run. “I’m excited to go from theory to experimental results during my internship,” he said. Attiyah, who grew up in Southern California, was drawn to math as a student. But when…
NIF and JLF user groups look beyond ignition to bright possibilities in science
Attendees at this year’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) User Groups Meeting celebrated Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) recent fusion ignition breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility, but also kept their focus on looking ahead to a bright future of high energy density (HED) science research. The forward-thinking…
Ignition gives U.S. ‘unique opportunity’ to lead world’s IFE research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s historic achievement of fusion ignition Dec. 5 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) positions the United States with a “unique opportunity” to further lead the world scientific community’s pursuit of developing fusion as a future source of clean energy, according to a newly released report. Capitalizing on that opportunity…
Scientists put additive manufactured foams to the test
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists recently published the results of a three-week experimental campaign at the Lab’s Jupiter Laser Facility to test the performance of laser-heated additive manufactured foams. The project helps support two major Laboratory focus areas, including helping to advance additive manufacturing and by enabling improvements in…
DOE awards $18 million to LaserNetUS consortium
LaserNetUS, a network of facilities operating ultra-powerful lasers including those at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has received $18 million from the Department of Energy (DOE) for user support. Established in 2018 by DOE, LaserNetUS is organized and funded by DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). The new network was created to provide vastly…
NIF-JLF User Group 2020 Meeting
At the recent 2020 NIF and Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) User Group meeting, we ask attendees to tell us why the annual conference is important for their work and for the exciting future of high energy density science.
Summer scholar reels in ‘STRIPED FISH’ for NIF
In high school, Liz Grace thought physics was boring and instead considered studying psychology or music. But then a college professor inspired Grace to see the wonders of physics. Today, as a National Ignition Facility (NIF) & Photon Science Summer Scholar, she’s helping to design and build a diagnostic instrument that could become a revolutionary measurement tool for…
NIF and Jupiter Laser Facility user groups meet to discuss recent experiments, new capabilities
The annual National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) User Group meeting brought together more than 180 researchers to learn about the capabilities, recent experiments and new experimental platforms of both Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) facilities. The attendees included 61 students and represented 31 institutions across six countries…
DOE looks to Jupiter for high-intensity research
The Department of Energy deemed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as one of nine facilities operating high-intensity, ultrafast lasers. DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) within the Office of Science awarded the new research network, called LaserNetUS, $6.8 million over the next two years. LaserNetUS includes the most powerful lasers in the United…
Summer scholars learn value of team science
A group of NIF & Photon Science summer scholars and visiting graduate students are experiencing the value of teamwork as they conduct experiments at LLNL’s Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF). Jesus Hinojosa, 26, a University of Michigan graduate student, and Matthew Thibodeau, 21, a Rice University undergraduate, joined a team of veteran scientists and researchers to explore…
Fast heat flows in warm dense aluminum
Thermal conductivity is one of the most crucial physical properties of matter when it comes to understanding heat transport, hydrodynamic evolution and energy balance in systems ranging from astrophysical objects to fusion plasmas. In the warm dense matter (WDM) regime, experimental data are very rare, so many theoretical models remain untested. But LLNL researchers have…
Janus Laser Furthers Planetary Defense Research
Defending Earth against incoming asteroids—uncommon but potentially catastrophic threats—is no easy task. Without convenient, cost-effective ways to experiment directly on asteroids in the solar system, scientists run simulations and conduct high-energy-density experiments on asteroid fragments with lasers. Those who need to study matter under extreme conditions find a…
New paper examines hydrogen at high pressure
Hydrogen is the most abundant element found in the universe, making up nearly three-quarters of all matter. Despite its prevalence, questions about the element remain.In a new paper published today by Nature Communications, a team of researchers, including scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), aims to answer one of those questions – what happens to…
Lasers Shed Light on the Universe's Most Luminous Events
In the 1960s, while hunting for illicit nuclear explosions with gamma-ray-detecting satellites, scientists first spotted flashes of high-energy gamma rays originating deep in space. These flashes are produced by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are known to be the universe’s most luminous electromagnetic events.
Researchers reveal new electron ring formations
Laser wakefield acceleration, a process where electron acceleration is driven by high-powered lasers, is well-known for being able to produce high-energy beams of electrons in tabletop-scale distances. However, in recent experiments, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) revealed new,…
