Megajoule Fusion Yields at the National Ignition Facility (shared with UBC)

Abstract:

With 192 laser beams delivering over 2 megajoules of energy to target, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the world's most energetic laser system and, for the first time in a controlled laboratory setting, has demonstrated fusion ignition and target gain greater than 1. The NIF generates ignition conditions by precisely firing the lasers onto a target comprising a centimeter-tall cylinder inside of which is a millimeter-scale spherical shell filled with deuterium-tritium fuel. The fuel highly compresses, fusing the deuterium and tritium to release helium and large quantities of neutrons and energy. A series of advances over the course of decades were required to reach this stage - laser optical components, target fabrication precision, and implosion design. Building from here, the momentous demonstration of reproducible ignition paves the way for a new category of ignition science experiments as well as a broad array of materials and nuclear science studies within a novel regime of high energy density physics.

Bio: 

Berzak Hopkins is a design physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, focusing on inertial confinement fusion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). She has already has made a mark at NIF as part of the team that performed the first shots to show more energy coming out of the hydrogen fuel than was deposited in it. While still short of ignition – when the energy out is greater than that needed to spark the fusion reaction – it’s a big step forward.

Laura also runs a website designed to connect the public to science research. “My goals continue to be to pursue what challenges me and what I feel passionate about, both in the arena of scientific research as well as in science policy and politics”.

Learn More:

• See Laura's bio from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory website
• Review her research here