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National Ignition Facility Professor

The National Ignition Facility established a NIF professorship at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the general area of high energy density (HED) science. This joint appointment is expected to strengthen HED science at both institutions.

Scientists from the U.C. campuses have had a long history of collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy laboratories in this area. U.C. faculty members have expertise in plasma physics, photonics, laser interaction with matter, and materials at extreme conditions. U.C. scientists have also performed important experiments at the University of Rochester's OMEGA laser as part of its user program and are expected to continue their work at NIF.

NIF Professor Christoph NiemannChristoph Niemann, NIF Professor at UCLA, has previously performed laser–plasma physics experiments at LLNL and has also participated in the NIF Early Light campaign. HED science is a growing field with vast potential for new, innovative research (see Science at the Extremes). At UCLA, Niemann has access to world-renowned faculty in related fields and to high-quality graduate students, providing a stimulating environment for advancing the field. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has an independent grant program for basic science, and the NIF Professorship helps serve as a conduit for developing students and postdocs for the NNSA programs.

Niemann joined the UCLA faculty in 2005 and is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. His research focuses on laser–plasma interactions, high energy density physics, and inertial confinement fusion, and he has established a research group on high energy density physics. In close collaboration with LLNL scientists, the group performs most of its experiments at large laser facilities around the world, including the Jupiter laser facility at LLNL, Trident at Los Alamos National Laboratory, or Phelix at GSI in Germany. Simultaneously, the group has installed a kilojoule-class laser at UCLA to complement its research on LLNL's larger lasers. The laser will be used to study collisionless shock waves in ambient magnetized plasma at UCLA's Basic Plasma Science Facility, which operates the 20-meter-long Large Plasma Device. Experiments on laser–plasma interaction and high energy density physics will be performed in a separate target chamber. This component at UCLA is important to allow graduate and undergraduate students become involved in HED research while they are taking classes and cannot spend extended periods of time in Livermore. To add to these opportunities, an LLNL-constructed, award-winning “peening laser” was transferred to UCLA in October 2011 to enhance the study of astrophysical phenomina there.

As an additional element of this collaboration, Niemann is developing strong ties to the UCLA plasma physics community, which has one of the broadest plasma physics programs in the nation, ranging from basic plasma science and space plasmas to magnetic fusion research and plasma accelerators. Niemann aims to be a NIF ambassador to attract young university and high school students to HED science and is enhancing the interaction between LLNL and UCLA.

More Information

"NIF's Niemann to Lead UCLA Collaboration," Newsline, September 16, 2005 (PDF)

UCLA/NIF Joint Publications

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