Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Programs
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) & Photon Science Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory comprises four programs, each focused on one or more aspects of NIF's missions. They are:
National Ignition Campaign
The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) encompasses all of the experiments, hardware and infrastructure needed to carry out the initial integrated ignition experiments on NIF beginning in 2010 and to continue research on ignition in the following years. NIC is a key element of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Stockpile Stewardship Program.
Photon Science & Applications
The Photon Science & Applications (PS&A) Program develops large-scale photon systems and carries out photon-based projects for energy, defense, homeland and stockpile security, basic science and industrial competitiveness. PS&A's technical expertise includes petawatt peak-power and megawatt average-power laser technology, ultrashort-duration X-ray and laser-like gamma-ray sources, meter-scale diffractive optics and the development of advanced laser crystals and transparent ceramics.
Inertial Fusion Energy
The Inertial Fusion Energy Program is exploring a variety of approaches to using inertial confinement fusion, NIF's core technology (see How to Make a Star), to achieve energy gain and help lay the groundwork for the eventual use of fusion energy as a clean, safe, virtually limitless source of electricity.
Science at the Extremes
NIF will become a premier international center for experimental science early in the next decade. The extreme temperatures and pressures that will be created inside the NIF target chamber will enable scientists from around the world to conduct unprecedented experiments in high energy density science and to gain new insights into such mysterious astrophysical phenomena as supernovae, giant planets and black holes.
