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History
National Ignition Facility
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The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research device, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, United States. NIF's mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain. It achieved the first instance of scientific breakeven controlled fusion in an experiment on December 5, 2022, with an energy gain factor of 1.5. It supports nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear explosions.
The National Ignition Facility, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The National Ignition Facility, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The target assembly for NIF's first integrated ignition experiment is mounted in the cryogenic target positioning system, or cryoTARPOS. The two trian
The target assembly for NIF's first integrated ignition experiment is mounted in the cryogenic target positioning system, or cryoTARPOS. The two triangle-shaped arms form a shroud around the cold target to protect it until they open five seconds before a shot.
Mockup of the gold-plated hohlraum designed for the NIF
Mockup of the gold-plated hohlraum designed for the NIF
NIF's fuel "target", filled with either D–T gas or D–T ice. The capsule is held in the hohlraum using thin plastic webbing.
NIF's fuel "target", filled with either D–T gas or D–T ice. The capsule is held in the hohlraum using thin plastic webbing.
Inertial confinement fusion
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Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with fuel. The targets are small pellets, typically containing deuterium (2H) and tritium (3H).
Inertial confinement fusion using lasers rapidly progressed in the late 1970s and early 1980s from being able to deliver only a few joules of laser en
Inertial confinement fusion using lasers rapidly progressed in the late 1970s and early 1980s from being able to deliver only a few joules of laser energy (per pulse) to being able to deliver tens of kilojoules to a target. At this point, very large scientific devices were needed for experimentation. Here, a view of the 10 beam LLNL Nova laser, shown shortly after the laser's completion in 1984. Around the time of the construction of its predecessor, the
Indirect drive laser ICF uses a hohlraum which is irradiated with laser beam cones from either side on its inner surface to bathe a fusion microcapsul
Indirect drive laser ICF uses a hohlraum which is irradiated with laser beam cones from either side on its inner surface to bathe a fusion microcapsule inside with smooth high intensity X-rays. The highest energy X-rays can be seen leaking through the hohlraum, represented here in orange/red.
Mockup of a gold plated National Ignition Facility (NIF) hohlraum
Mockup of a gold plated National Ignition Facility (NIF) hohlraum
An Inertial confinement fusion target, which was a foam filled cylindrical target with machined perturbations, being compressed by the Nova Laser. Thi
An Inertial confinement fusion target, which was a foam filled cylindrical target with machined perturbations, being compressed by the Nova Laser. This shot was done in 1995. The image shows the compression of the target, as well as the growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.