Science

‘Unprecedented and Very Exciting’: Lab Produces Most Powerful Laser Blast in History

Technician adjusts the target positioner inside the target chamber. (Photo: NIF)

Technician adjusts the target positioner inside the target chamber. (Photo: NIF)

It only lasted 23 billionths of a second but it generated 411 trillion watts of power. That‘s what you get when you fire up the world’s most powerful laser, generating 192 beams toward a target in perfect unison and producing a record-setting 2.03 million joules (megajoules) of ultraviolet laser light.

The National Ignition Facility in Lawrence, Calif., conducted this historical laser blast on March 15 as part of its research for fusion ignition. With the success of this test, the facility now holds claim to housing the world’s most powerful laser by a wide margin. According to the release, it generated 100 times more energy than other lasers in operation.

“For the past 15 years, since NIF groundbreaking in 1997, the scientific community has regarded the 1.8 MJ milestone as a tremendous technical challenge,” NIF Operations Manager Bruno Van Wonterghem said in a statement. “In 2003, we demonstrated this performance level on a single beam line, and in 2008 we repeated the demonstration on a single quad of four beams. To achieve this performance level with this kind of precision, quality and reliability on all 192 beams is unprecedented and very exciting.”

The release states that the laser beam also exceeded the research team’s expectation in terms of precision:

Such precision is vital because the energy distribution among the beams determines how symmetrical an implosion is obtained in capsules containing fusion fuel. Implosion symmetry is a critical factor in achieving the pressures and temperatures required for ignition. Moses said that NIF will pursue operations at even higher power and higher energy levels to achieve ignition.

NIF Fires Record Setting Laser Shot Producing 2.03 Million Joules of Ultraviolet Light

Norris Lao and Dean LaTray review the results of the record-setting blast. (Photo: NIF)

Gizmodo reports the technical details of how the laser works:

It all starts with a single laser, which is split into 48 separate beams. The beams are then redirected, using mirrors, into amplifiers that have been previously pumped by a total of 7,680 Xenon flash lamps. After four bounces, the beams are further split into 192 rays through all the facility — which is the size of three football fields. As they travel through those endless tubes, the beams are amplified again at an exponential rate.

The result: from a tiny 1/billionth of a joule laser, the scientists at the National Ignition Facility obtain rays “a foot on their side” with a combined “2.03 million joules of ultraviolet energy,” 1,000 times the energy of all the power plants in the United States combined, even while it’s only for a fraction of a second.

Nature reports that while the laser maxed out at 2.03 megajoules and “diagnostic and other optics” at the center of the target chamber reduced the energy to 1.875. Previous tests had maxed out at 1.6 megajoules.

Nature states that NIF is working to achieve fusion ignition before the end of this year. Gizmodo explains how this process would create “a small star” that could be the source of clean energy:

The powerful lasers will compress a frozen hydrogen fuel cell, which will itself be enclosed in a gold-plated cylinder called the hohlraum. The hohlraum is located inside a 32.8-foot-diameter ignition chamber, and it will transform the lasers into extremely intense X-rays, compressing the hydrogen at one hundred billion atmospheres in just 1/1,000,000 of a second.

This will trigger a controlled nuclear fusion reaction that will create a small star, hopefully generating more power than the energy used to fire the laser and contain the intense heat inside the chamber.

NIF Fires Record Setting Laser Shot Producing 2.03 Million Joules of Ultraviolet Light

Hohlraum (Photo: NIF)

NIF, located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Comments (68)

1 2
  • jtsooner
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 9:34pm

    It was only set on stun.

    Report Post »  
  • Codesmith
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:16pm

    I find it rather interesting that the article talks about power generated, but no where, does it mention how much energy was required to drive the system to produce the power. That would be a major omission, if you think about it. Oh, but wait, we are just supposed to revel in how smart THOSE folks are….

    Report Post »  
    • KangarooJack
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:41pm

      They hooked up cables to a Chevy Volt..

      Report Post » KangarooJack  
    • The1stDave
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:56pm

      You just can’t get past the law of conservation of energy. The energy output of a system equals the energy input.

      They will need a little star that burns for quite a while to exceed the energy needed to start it up. If they manage that it will be a great source of clean energy.

      Then Al Gore will complain about all the helium produced by the new fusion power houses. The only solution to that problem will involve lining his pockets.

      Report Post » The1stDave  
    • TheJeffersonian
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 12:39am

      Why would that be relevant? It’s not significant for its energy efficiency, it’s significant for its output.

      Report Post » TheJeffersonian  
    • 4xeverything
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:17am

      I’m not interested until it can fit into my pocket.

      Report Post » 4xeverything  
    • Jaycen
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 12:15pm

      Codesmith, you’re a little worried about nothing.

      It’s interesting to me, as I recall an old article about a 9 Terawatt laser that was used in an experiment to split photons and then re-combine them at two different energy levels within a magnetic field. The researchers claimed they were able to form protons from the recombined photons.

      For those of you who don’t know, that means they created matter from energy, which is a reversal of E=MC^2.

      The researcher was quoted as saying it only worked 27 tries out of 1000, so it was really inefficent (stating it would take all the energy in the sun to make enough matter to build a spoon). Still, it’s a cool concept.

      Report Post » Jaycen  
    • pavepaws
      Posted on March 23, 2012 at 3:10pm

      Asteroid blaster.

      Report Post »  
  • Jackie Rogers, Jr.
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 5:42pm

    Fusion ignition? Isn’t that what Doc Ock was trying to do in the second Spiderman movie? And we know what that got him.
    Speaking of movies, that chamber looks like the chamber where, in the X-Men movies, Professor X would go to put on that helmet thing and search for other mutants.
    These scientists are my kind of people!

    Report Post » Jackie Rogers, Jr.  
  • ronin_6
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 5:20pm

    Go USA! This could truly represent a paradigm shift. However I remember the whole ‘cold fusion’ hoopla back in the late seventies so I will just wait and see what happens.

    Report Post » ronin_6  
  • burnteye86
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 4:37pm

    aim it at Michael Moore’s fat head for about 3 hours

    Report Post » burnteye86  
  • starchy
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:50pm

    Very interesting – create a “small star” that would be housed to provide an energy source. Maybe that is all our universe is, a collection of stars being used for an energy source by some other beings?

    Report Post » starchy  
    • hidden_lion
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 4:45pm

      Sounds good, until they realize they can’t control it and it detonates, consuming everything around it for hundreds of miles.

      Report Post » hidden_lion  
    • Captain Morgan
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:15pm

      What and lose San Francisco, Berkley, and Scramento and the 9th Circuit Court…NOOOOO!!

      Report Post » Captain Morgan  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:47pm

    Duh zat thang gotta HEMI?

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • Wyatt's Torch
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:47pm

    Watt could possibly go wrong with this plan?

    Report Post » Wyatt's Torch  
  • DarthMims
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:32pm

    Where would they put such a laser, on the moon? Wait, that’s no moon, its a space station…

    Report Post » DarthMims  
  • Starkadder
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:31pm

    Black holes don’t exist. They are fictional mathematical construct. The so called “photos” of alleged black holes are the result of electromagnetic macrolensing. Galaxies are held together by elctromagnetic forces and not by gravity.
    The Big Bang Never Happened.
    http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/07/big-bang-never-happened.html

    Report Post » Starkadder  
    • DarthMims
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:47pm

      Yeah, where do they keep coming up with these new-fangled ideas like this “gravity” idea?

      Report Post » DarthMims  
    • Bro. Chuck
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 4:13pm

      Nope….
      never did……

      Genesis 1

      The Beginning
      1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,“ and the darkness he called ”night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.

      He has A Plan……

      Baruch HaShem!

      Be Bless’d in Yeshuah….

      Bro. Chuck

      Report Post »  
    • DeathTongue
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 5:01pm

      what did He call gravity?

      Report Post »  
    • Bro. Chuck
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 5:22pm

      @DeathTongue

      He didn’t “have” to name it…….

      but it was one of the “goods” i believe-
      Everything was good…
      It served The Purpose He intended……
      It was ALL perfect as He Will’d it.

      I think we found out about it, and “named” it gravity after seeing that apple fall from the tree of knowledge of good & evil….

      Did Adam & Eve need to know about gravity?

      I think just knowing they were there with God was enough…..
      well, until they reached for that durn’d apple….

      Be Bless’d in Yeshuah!

      Bro. Chuck

      Report Post »  
  • Zeb
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:09pm

    Can we use it to drill for OIL, SOMETHING REALLY USEFUL
    I did like the shot on Washington theory but it was a little to selective should include all RINO’S

    Report Post » Zeb  
    • Zeb
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:35pm

      Note from a friend
      worse. We have all of the resources we need here to become self sufficient. We have the oil, we have the natural gas, we have the coal, we have nuclear power; but more then that we have the can do American ingenuity and positive spirit that has been and will always be our greatest weapon in defeating any adversary or national challenge.
      Your administration has squandered billions on chasing the unicorn of the liberal free lunch, often referred to as “renewable energy.” One only needs to watch “Mr. Wizards World” to realize the foolishness in this pursuit on a national scale. I could build you a solar powered car, with a rechargeable battery, and then if I could find a human the size of Luke Skywalker action figure it would work just fine. Just so long as it never left the driveway. In reality, electric cars can’t work because of size and weight. If we abandoned the safety features of these cars they would work, and people buy motorcycles so why would they not buy those electric cars? I’ll tell you why. Because you look like a dork in one. On a motorcycle you look cool. But If you want an electric car it can be done, and somebody will buy it. But it can’t be done with crony capitalism, lawsuit city, and federal regulation, plus Ralph Nader in the passenger seat!
      So you keep droning on about it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault we invaded Libya. It’s not my fault that we have destabilized Egypt who is possession of M1 Abrams tanks and F

      Report Post » Zeb  
    • Zeb
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:42pm

      It’s not my fault that we have destabilized Egypt who is possession of M1 Abrams tanks and F-16’s. It’s not my fault that tax receipts are falling. It’s not my fault that good Americans can’t find work. It’s not my fault that I’ve not done what had to be done to get this economy moving. It’s not my fault that I’ve so mismanaged NASA that we can’t even launch a capsule with an American in it without paying a gangster like Putin the vig. It’s not my fault that guns have been given to the worst of the worst because my attorney general ok’d the dumbest idea since the Edsel. Its not my fault that this war for one side of the same muslim/arab coin is lining up for a mushroom cloud. Would you like me to continue? Because I’m ready willing and able to do so.
      “We the People” have taken enough blame from the likes of you. In short order, we are going to drive to those polls and register our firm displeasure. Even if we can’t afford the gasoline to get there.
      Respectfully,
      Joe Doakes

      Report Post » Zeb  
    • JimL
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:05pm

      Best summary of current global energy/ politics I have read in some time. Thanks.

      Are you stacking wood?

      Report Post »  
  • ChuckHarding
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:08pm

    Correction: The NIF is at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in *Livermore*, California, not Lawrence. Thank you for correcting this.

    Report Post » ChuckHarding  
  • TEIN
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:37pm

    “411 trillion watts of power”…I like to see how high the “Wattometer” goes…and this cost just how many billions??

    Report Post »  
    • SR1911man
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:47pm

      Admiral Akbar- “WE CAN’T REPEL FIRE POWER OF THAT MAGNITUDE!”

      Report Post » SR1911man  
  • JimL
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:36pm

    So the Princeton Boys and the 50 Year Plus Fusion Team are just, almost, not quite within reach but very near, probably after November but very soon after the election to solving everyone’s energy wants. BTU’s for nothing.
    Come get me when it all comes to be. Until then I’ll sit and watch the green wood pile dry.

    Report Post »  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:36pm

      It’s time to fetch some more green wood, right after i split what is laying around.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:57pm

      the current spokesman for science michu kaku (sp) has said that fusion technology at the rate we are going will be productive towards the end of this century. Pure research has all sorts of fascinating spinoffs that the private sector makes use of. there is no reason that it cannot be done with private money though.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
    • JimL
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:07pm

      Thanks for the straight stuff.

      Report Post »  
  • reboard
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:29pm

    They are in pursuit of fusion ignition. Didn‘t they see ’Spiderman 2′ and see how that turned out?

    Report Post »  
  • Kankokage
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:27pm

    I do not doubt the veracity of the study, nor do I scoff at the incredible implications of containing a fusion reaction for power production, but I am curious how they amplify the energy of the beam to such an incredible amount. On the face, it would seem they’ve violated the laws of thermodynamics, so I’m wondering what has gone on underneath the dumbed-down news article.

    Report Post » Kankokage  
    • Conserving Ink
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 3:06pm

      It’s a manipulation of Energy over Time. They take a weaker laser over a longer period of time and compress it down to a fraction of a second.

      Report Post » Conserving Ink  
    • VRW Conspirator
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 6:04pm

      Power is Joules per second…energy over time…so if I make the time the laser fires 1/1000000 of a second the energy will increase 1000000 times so that the Watts remains constant…simply conservation law problem…nothing that big of a deal…
      but they are trying to get it to ignite a hydrogen bubble and jump start a fusion reactor…that is a big deal…
      my professor in Acoustics was using Sol-Luminescence back in the 1990′s to do the same thing with sound and a hydrogen bubble…
      granted he had to construct a 3 degree Kelvin chamber by using cylinders of liquid nitrogen surrounding a pressurized chamber of liquid Helium surrounding a chamber with an injector that could spit out a single atom of Hydrogen…the Hydrogen was compressed with soundwaves… but he did it…and it didn’t last for just 1/1000000000 of a second…it was sustained and held for several minutes and generated enough energy to power the city of LA for hours..
      his technology was already being look at back then by refrigerator, HVAC, and auto companies…it would allow your car stereo to drive your heater and AC…a refrigerator of home AC to operate without freon….basically the sound would heat and cool and power the surroundings…
      that was 20 years ago…and they haven’t been able to reduce the size of the device (3 football fields in Livermore) to be practical in everyday use yet…so don’t get your hopes up of fusion anytime soon

      Report Post » VRW Conspirator  
  • Your Name Here
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:13pm

    Could they aim it at the laser reflector on the moon and use that to aim it at the White House and take out all of the Socialists?

    Report Post » Your Name Here  
    • 9111315
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:38pm

      Yes. We even tricked them to help put the reflector on the moon. Down side is that they plan to use a solar powered rocket to get it there.

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:07pm

    I can see it now:

    Obama sitting with the red phone in his hand, smouldering wreckage all around while his suit is smoldering and charred. His desk reduced to ashes…

    (Obama: “BIDEN! (mumbles) why did I let him play with the button to that laser? Why did he have to direct it at the Occupy DC bands and miss?”

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • JACKTHETOAD
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:19pm

      OH,NO! Someone‘s called Gregory Peccary and they’ve released the rabid javalinas to boot!

      Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • Bro. Chuck
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:04pm

    wait,

    a small star?
    right here in the good ‘ol USA?

    i bet this will be cooler than the 4th of july fireworks here….

    can I watch?

    D’oh!

    Its only by the Grace of God that CERN hasn’t already turned this planet into a black hole…..

    Maybe NIF & CERN can race to see who hits the “Big One” first…..

    Father, we can be pretty stoopid sometimes…
    please watch over us?

    Be Bless’d

    Bro. Chuck

    Report Post »  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:09pm

      The Chinese have already deployed this weapon in space. Edward Teller designed this weapon 30 years ago but the Democrat-Commies voted down the funding and now Mainland Chinese hired by government have stolen the plans.

      Report Post »  
    • JimL
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:21pm

      The Chinese handed the tech back last week in return for more US credit card investment in Chinese solar and wind.

      It could have happen?

      Report Post »  
  • Mikev5
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:01pm

    And Who is paying for this?

    So many of these experaments are just a massive wast of Tax payer dollars like watching chimps sleep! or study methane gas emissions from dairy cows or a study on how Americans use the Internet to find love?

    Now if this is not funded by our Tax dollars great

    Report Post » Mikev5  
    • SgtB
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:27pm

      Oh, don’t worry, it is paid for with taxpayer dollars for sure. The gov‘t will fund this kind of research but it won’t even issue a permit or license for a private entity to use similarly funded research from the 1950‘s to build a thorium based nuclear plant that could power your family’s life for a year on 2 grams of cheap and obtainable thorium. BTW, 2 grams is the average amount of thorium in a cubic meter of dirt. To get 2 grams of uranium requires more than 10x that amount of mining and has far more detrimental environmental side effects. Oh, and thorium is a natural product of mining for iron ore. So we already have it as a natural waste product of other industries.

      Report Post » SgtB  
  • JACKTHETOAD
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:59pm

    Yeah, but is it powerful enough to light Bill Clinton’s soggy cigar?

    Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • Coredestroy
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:58pm

    1.21 Jigawatts??!!!

    Report Post »  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 1:33pm

      GREAT SCOTT!

      lmao

      Side note: you‘d think a scientist of Doc Brown’s stature would know “jiggawatts” is pronounced “gigawatts,“ as in ”After 30 years of failures, I should be rethinking this scientist gig if I can’t get this time machine to work.”

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:39pm

      4.11 Terawatts

      Report Post »  
    • wvernon1981
      Posted on March 22, 2012 at 2:51pm

      411 Terawatts, .411 Petawatts

      Report Post »  
  • MiddleAmerica2012
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:50pm

    anyone else think this is a bad idea????

    Report Post » MiddleAmerica2012  
  • Mark0331
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:47pm

    Death Star here we come!!

    Report Post » Mark0331  
  • oldguy49
    Posted on March 22, 2012 at 12:46pm

    or maybe create a black hole we can all jump into

    Report Post »  
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