Science and Technology Highlights

Femtosecond X-ray diffraction of laser shocked aluminum-zirconium metals.
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LLNL scientists use ultra-fast X-ray probes to track the thermal response of aluminum and zirconium on shock release from experiments. 

The image looks down the barrel of a metallic carbon nanotubes embedded in an array of closely-packed carbon nanotubes with different electronic properties.
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LLNL scientists find that pure metallic carbon nanotubes are best at transporting molecules.

A machine-learning potential derived from first-principles calculations unveils the intricate mechanisms of CO2 capture in liquid ammonia.
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LLNL scientists develop a machine-learning model to gain an atomic-level understanding of CO2 capture in amine-based sorbents.

Water gets weird under nano-confinement. This image shows an exotic phase of water trapped in tiny spaces, where it interacts surprisingly with electric fields.
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LLNL scientists and a collaborator at University of Texas at Austin turn to simulations to explain the first-order response of confined water to applied electric fields.

In inertial confinement fusion experiments, lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility focus on a tiny fuel capsule suspended inside a cylindrical x-ray oven called a hohlraum.
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LLNL researchers make advancements in understanding and resolving the long-standing "drive-deficit" problem in indirect-drive ICF experiments.

Despite the historical consensus, trivalent actinides and lanthanides exhibit distinct chemistries. By using polyoxometalate chelators, LLNL scientists provide crystallographic and spectroscopic evidence that americium and curium yield a variety of compounds that their lanthanide counterparts are unable to form.
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LLNL researchers develop a new technique for synthesizing molecular compounds with heavy elements.

Machine learning potential derived from first-principles calculations reveals that confinement in TiO2 nanopores enhances proton transfer by reducing activation energy, highlighting the interplay between confinement, surface chemistry and topology in accelerating water reactivity.
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LLNL Researchers discover a new mechanism that can boost the efficiency of hydrogen production through water splitting.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have collaborated with Zap Energy in Everett, Washington, to measured plasma conditions on Z-pinch fusion experiments on the private-sector fusion company’s Fusion Z-pinch Experiment (FuZE) device.
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LLNL scientists report advancements in understanding plasma pressure profiles within flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion, a candidate for achieving net gain fusion energy in a compact device.

Shown is part of the Psyche Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) instrument and operation teams at the JPL in Pasadena. Right to left are: Morgan Burks (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory); Patrick Peplowski, John Goldsten and David Lawrence (all from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory); and Maria De Soria Santacruz Pich and Nora Alonge (NASA JPL).
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An instrument designed and built by LLNL researchers is the highest-resolution gamma ray sensor that has ever flown in space.

Developed by LLNL and Portland State University researchers, innovative matrix-free solvers offer performance gains for complex multiphysics simulations.
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LLNL mathematician and collaborators publish a recent paper introducing specialized solvers optimized for simulations running on graphics processing unit (GPU)–based supercomputers.