Science and Technology Highlights

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists used the Advanced Light Source, shown here, to develop a new technique in nuclear forensics.
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In a recent study, LLNL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists described how synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) can identify chemical states and material impurities at the scale of individual particles. 

Artist’s rendering of a possible inertial fusion energy power plant.
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The DOE announces $134 million in funding for two programs designed to secure U.S. leadership in emerging fusion technologies and innovation. 

Close-up of the surface of laser powder bed fusion (LBPF), a metal additive manufacturing (AM) process where a laser uses heat to fuse metal powder material and form structures.
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LLNL researchers are tackling this challenge by developing first-of-their-kind approaches to look at how materials and structures evolve inside a metal AM structure during printing. 

From left: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Materials Science Division (MSD) researcher Juergen Biener, Materials Engineering Division(MED) staff engineer Abhinav Parakh, physicist Kristi Beck, physics postdoctoral researcher Sayan Patra, and MED staff engineer Xiaoxing Xia.
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LLNL researchers and collaborators miniaturize quadrupole ion traps for the first time with 3D printing. 

A schematic of the SAPPHIRE diagnostic. The top half of a chirped laser beam passes through plasma, while the bottom half does not. Separating and recombining the beam creates interference patterns (right) that show how the plasma changes with time.
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In a study published in Optica, LLNL researchers developed a new diagnostic that captures plasma evolution in time and space with a single laser shot. 

Samples of algae were taken from the Eel River (left) and measured with NanoSIMS (center). The results, right, demonstrate that a symbiotic bacterium fixes nitrogen inside the algae.
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LLNL researchers and collaborators investigated a California river ecosystem and found a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that acts like a proto-organelle.

A laboratory-scale carbon dioxide electrolyzer (left) and a schematic representation of the same (middle). This technology can be used to transform carbon dioxide into valuable products like fuel and plastics (right).
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In a new study, LLNL researchers design a new polymer ink, called an ionomer, that controls how gas and water move in electrochemical devices. 

STARFIRE logo.
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The STARFIRE Hub for IFE, led by LLNL, adds five new members to its Diode Technology Working Group. 

LLNL researchers created molecular dynamics simulations to explain why either graphite or diamond forms when carbon crystallizes.
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LLNL researchers create molecular dynamics simulations to explain what material forms when carbon crystallizes.

With the arrival of the exascale supercomputer El Capitan, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers are entering a new era of scientific simulation — one in which they can model extreme physical events with unprecedented resolution, realism and speed.
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LLNL researchers model extreme physical events with unprecedented resolution, realism and speed.