22A01
The National Ignition Facility:
An International User Facility for High Energy Density ScienceChristopher J. Keane and the NIF Team
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 USA
ABSTRACT The 192-beam National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser, completed in 2009, is operating 24/7 atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA, USA. NIF is a high energy density science
experimental facility, open to US and international users, with unprecedented capabilities to examine thebehavior of matter at extreme conditions. NIF has conducted 192-beam experiments with energies andpeak powers as high as 1.6 megajoules and 420 terawatts, respectively. The National Ignition Campaign(NIC), an international collaboration, has made significant scientific advances towards demonstration ofinertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition on NIF. The NIC team has demonstrated the highest fuel areal
density product (ρr~ 1.1 gm/cm2) ever achieved in ICF laboratory experiments, as well as a record neutron
yield (5.7 × 1014 neutrons) from a laser-driven deuterium-tritium implosion. Initial fundamental science
experiments at NIF have achieved 50-Mbar pressures in carbon, similar to conditions found in the centersof large planets, and also demonstrated the first production in ICF implosions of neutrons in the energyrange (1-2 MeV) of interest for nucleosynthesis studies. With experiments ongoing in a variety of areas, a
successful call for proposals in fundamental science executed in 2009-2010, and user infrastructure in place,
NIF is establishing itself as a major international scientific user facility.

1. Overview of the National Ignition Facility
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s
most energetic laser system, is operational at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
and conducting experiments in inertial confinement
fusion (ICF) ignition and other scientific areas.1,2
NIF is operational 24/7 and executed 286 systemshots in the most recent fiscal year (October
2010-September 2011). The combination of laser,target, and diagnostic capabilities available at NIF
make it an unprecedented user facility foradvancement of ICF and other areas of high energy
density (HED) science. With NIF available andother high energy density facilities in Japan,3France,4 the UK,5 and elsewhere under construction
or complete, the world is entering a new era of
discovery in HED science.

Fig.1. National Ignition Facility

The NIF laser consists of 192 individual laser
beams grouped into four 48-beam “clusters,” eachcomposed of six 8-beam “bundles.” NIF has
demonstrated a total of 1.6 megajoules ofultraviolet (or 3ω) light on target in a20-nanosecond pulse for a total power of nearly 420
terawatts. The laser will soon be capable ofdelivering 1.8 megajoules and 500 terawatts in theultraviolet. This level of performance, fifty timesmore energetic than any previous laser system, hasbeen demonstrated on a single bundle. The NIF
laser also has precision and reproducibility
unprecedented for a large ICF facility. This
capability, coupled with precision targets and a highreliability diagnostics suite, allows NIF to conductsophisticated experiments using a relatively small
amount of shots.
Approximately 50 optical, x-ray, gamma, neutronand charged particle diagnostics are available atNIF, with additional advanced diagnostics planned.
These diagnostics are either fixed or inserted into
the target chamber via Diagnostic Insertion
Manipulators or “DIMS.” The DIM mount is used
at a variety of facilities worldwide and facilitates
broad collaboration in NIF diagnostics. A numberof these diagnostics have been developed to handle
conditions associated with high fusion yield; NIF is
now qualified for use of tritium and to conduct
fusion ignition experiments with single-shot yields
up to 45 MJ. The NIF diagnostic team includes
individuals from the academic, industrial, andnational laboratories in the US as well asinternational collaborations.
2. The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) andProgress Towards Ignition
A central goal of NIF is the demonstration ofinertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition. Ignition
is obtained via the compression and heating ofmm-scale capsules filled with deuterium and tritium(DT)
to temperatures and densities ofapproximately 108 degrees K and 1000 gm/cm3,respectively. Ignition capsules include both a frozen
and gaseous DT region and are held at cryogenic
temperatures (18-19°K). The ignition program isexecuted by an international collaboration, theNational Ignition Campaign (NIC), and consists ofan experimental, computational, and theoreticaleffort aimed at tuning the laser and target
parameters to those required for ignition.
NIC has made strong progress in the past year.6,7
The target fabrication, diagnostic, and othertechniques necessary to field and diagnose
cryogenic ignition targets have been demonstrated,
and the various experimental techniques used totune the laser and target parameters have beenvalidated. Cryogenic implosion experiments with
50/50 mixes of deuterium and tritium have been
conducted at laser energies up to 1.6 megajoules
and peak laser powers of 420 terawatts. Theseexperiments have demonstrated the highest fuelareal density product (ρr~ 1.1 gm/cm2) everachieved in ICF laboratory experiments, as well asa record neutron yield (5.7 × 1014 neutrons) from alaser-driven deuterium-tritium implosion. The NIC
team has also demonstrated an experimental
ignition threshold factor (ITFX) approaching 0.1– afactor of over 50 increase in the past year. (NoteITFX = 1 implies a 50% probability of achieving
ignition in a given ignition implosion experiment.)
3. Fundamental Science at NIFThediagnosticand
othercapabilities
implemented by the NIC team have also facilitatedexperiments in fundamental HED science. NIF’s
ability to access extreme conditions of matter will
open new research frontiers and address compellingscientific questions in materials science, condensed
matter physics, astrophysics, nuclear physics, andother areas.2 As an example, in the past year
scientists from the University of California(Berkeley), Princeton University, LLNL, andelsewhere conducted four experiments thatcompressed diamond to peak pressures exceeding
50MBars—conditions
never
previously

encountered in the laboratory and similar to thosefound in planetary interiors. Scientists are also
developing techniques to perform nucleosynthesis
experiments at NIF; in particular, NIF implosions
are being developed as a source of relatively low
energy neutrons (E~ 1-2 MeV) to look at thephysics of the S-process. Initial experiments insupernova hydrodynamics have also beenconducted. Experiments in a variety of otherscientific areas have been approved for NIF.
4. NIF As a User Facility
NIF has also made progress towards operation asa user facility for fundamental HED science. Inaddition to the laser, diagnostic, and other facility
capabilities described above, other infrastructure
required by users is in place. LLNL has
implemented a “HED Campus” to support visiting
researchers. A successful call for proposals for
fundamental science at NIF was executed in
2009-2010, and a NIF User Group is being formed.
5. Summary
NIF is a premier international experimental
capability for research in ICF and other areas ofHED science. The NIC team has made strong
progress towards the goal of ICF ignition andestablished diagnostic, target fabrication, and othercapabilities needed to advance the subject of HED
science generally at NIF. Initial fundamental
science experiments in materials science andastrophysics have further demonstrated NIF’s
scientific potential. The coming decade should truly
represent a “golden age” for high energy density
science as NIF and other user facilities worldwide
enable the study of matter at extreme conditions
never previously accessible.
Acknowledgements
This work performed under the auspices of theU.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore
NationalLaboratory
undercontract
No.
DE-AC52-07NA27344.
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[3] H. Azechi et al: Plasma Physics and Controlled
Fusion 48 (2006) B267.
[4] N. Fleurot et al: Fusion Engineering and Design 74(2005) 147.
[5] C.N. Danson et al: Lasers and Particle
Beams 23 1 (2005) 87.
[6] J.D. Lindl et al: Nuclear Fusion 51 (2011) 94024.
[7] S.H. Glenzer et al: Science 327 (2010) 1228.