Lab scientists develop next-generation NIF optics to boost energy and limit damage

A new anti-reflective coating and a novel chemical process for laser optics, developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, represents an important breakthrough in its effort to boost the energy of the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) 192 giant lasers, and cut the cost of repairing or replacing damaged optics vital to its operation. The coating was developed to...

The art of hand-polishing precision optics

Growing up in a household of artists and engineers, Peter Thelin was destined for a career in which artistry mattered. Only for him, art has come in the form of manipulating the shapes, sizes and qualities of optics. And now, as one of the few remaining practitioners of hand-polishing optics, Thelin is passing his artistry along to the next generation of optics specialists."Art is anything...

Lawrence Livermore captures five R&D 100 awards

LIVERMORE, Calif.--Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers are the recipients of five awards among the top 100 industrial innovations worldwide in 2012. The five technologies honored by the trade journal R&D Magazine were developed by three teams of LLNL scientists and engineers, a team of Lab physicists and two LLNL computational scientists who worked with two other national...