Science and Technology Highlights

Building on more than a decade of research, LLNL materials scientists and industry partner Eljen Technology have produced plastic, lithium-6 doped scintillator “bars” (with dimensions of 5.5 cm × 5.5 cm × 50 cm) capable of detecting antineutrinos: the antimatter partner of a neutrino, one of nature’s most elusive and least understood subatomic particles.
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'Lighting' up antineutrino detection

LLNL researchers, in partnership with Elijen Technology, are working on a plastic, lithium-6 doped scintillator for detecting reactor antineutrinos that represents over a decade of materials science research. 

LLNL’s Weapon Simulation and Computing Associate Director Rob Neely speaks during a fireside chat on El Capitan held at the Department of Energy Booth at SC24 on Nov. 18. Panelists also included (l-r) AMD Corporate Fellow Steve Scott, HPE’s Chief Product Officer and Senior Vice President, HPC, AI & Labs Trish Damkroger and NNSA Deputy Assistant Deputy Administrator for Advanced Simulation and Computing Thuc Hoang.
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El Capitan crowned as LLNL’s legacy of supercomputing leadership reaches new he…

SC24, held recently in Atlanta, was a landmark event, setting new records and demonstrating LLNL's unparalleled contributions to high-performance computing (HPC) innovation and impact.

Generative AI-driven diffusion models predict 3D atomic structures from XANES spectroscopy, enabling tailored material design for energy and sustainability applications.
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Predicting atomic structures proves useful in energy and sustainability

LLNL researchers have developed a new approach that combines generative artificial intelligence (AI) and first-principles simulations to predict three-dimensional (3D) atomic structures of highly complex materials.

Fast Cure silicone in direct-ink-write additive manufacturing can produce previously unattainable structures, such as tall, overhanging, or thin-walled structures. Such structures, featured on the October journal cover of Advanced Materials Technologies, are obtained thanks to the quick gelling process.
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Fast-curing silicone ink opens new doors in 3D printing

LLNL researchers have developed a new method to 3D print sturdy silicone structures that are bigger, taller, thinner and more porous than ever before. 

Researchers used previously obtained x-ray diffraction data to determine the in-situ ablation depth of an aluminum sample.
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Measuring in-situ ablation depth in aluminum

LLNL researchers an collaborators conduct a study that represents the first example of using X-ray diffraction to make direct time-resolved measurements of an aluminum sample’s ablation depth. 

Running on the second-generation Cerebras WSE-2 — a cutting-edge processor boasting 850,000 cores — the team from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Cerebras Systems demonstrated the chip can perform complex simulations involving hundreds of thousands of atoms at speeds previously thought unattainable. The work is a finalist for the 2024 Association for Computing Machinery Gordon Bell Prize. the highest honor in supercomputing.
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NNSA researchers break the molecular-dynamics timescale barrier with world’s la…

A team of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Tri-Lab researchers unveil a revolutionary approach to molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the Cerebras Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE).

With a peak performance of 2.79 exaFLOPS, El Capitan comprises more than 11,000 compute nodes and provides the National Nuclear Security Administration with a flagship machine over 20 times more capable than its previous fastest supercomputer, Sierra.
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s El Capitan verified as world's fastest…

LLNL and collaborators have officially unveiled El Capitan as the world's most powerful supercomputer and first exascale system dedicated to national security.

BioID device instrument and consumables. An operating instrument is shown with a blue screen (left), open instrument for cartridge loading (middle) and single-use assay cartridge and sample loading syringe (right). The technology uses isothermal amplification to detect pathogen nucleic acid.
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LLNL and BioVind achieve diagnostics milestone

LLNL and BioVind, LLC attain exclusive licensing of LLNL pathogen diagnostics technology focused on oil and gas applications. 

From left, Marcus Worsley, Longsheng Feng and Tae Wook Heo have created a new electrode that that will help increase storage capcity.
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3D-printed electrode is all charged up

LLNL scientists and collaborators 3D-printed a new and compact device configuration that allows precise control over the geometric features and interactions between the electrodes.

When silicone resins are 3D printed via direct ink writing on top of sensitive electronic components, such as a circuit board, they offer unique mechanical and electrical protections. The printed structure can also act as a cushion, which is illustrated by striking the circuit board with a hammer.
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3D-printed solutions for electronics protection

With the help of 3D printing techniques, LLNL researchers are “packaging” electronics with printable elastomeric silicone foams to provide mechanical and electrical protection of sensitive components.