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Advanced Materials and Manufacturing

LLNL researchers are scaling up technology that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Big Ideas Lab podcast takes on the science of scale-up

Rechargeable lithium batteries trace back to 1972, but they wouldn’t reach consumer products until 1991. Solar photovoltaic cells existed in the 1950s, long before solar panels appeared on rooftops. And the MRI was demonstrated in the 1970s, years before the machines became hospital staples. In each case, the core scientific principles had been proven. The difficult part…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Collaborative Heavy-lift Aerial unManned Propellor Systems (CHAMPS) team participated in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Lift Challenge held in Dayton, Ohio. CHAMPS team left to right: Claire Knight, James Reimer, Marcus Worsley, Brian Wihl, Giovanna Bucci, Kenneth Entrom and Erika Ramos. Additional team members include Marissa Wood, Afolabi Olayiwola and Victoria Trang. (Photo: Garry McLeod)

LLNL CHAMPS team selected to develop a heavy-lift drone for DARPA competition

A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers pushed the limits of unmanned aerial systems to earn a place at the DARPA Lift Challenge, hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The LLNL Collaborative Heavy-lift Aerial unManned Propellor Systems (CHAMPS) team ranked among the 132 teams selected from more than 480…

TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuel is fully encapsulated by layers of carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products. Each particle (roughly the size of a poppy seed) acts as its own containment system and is more resistant to neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation, and high temperatures than traditional reactor fuels.

LLNL partners with industry to advance next-generation reactor fuel

Small, modular nuclear fission reactors are emerging as a resilient energy option, offering a scalable, cost-effective path to reliable power for remote or infrastructure-limited locations. However, these advanced reactor facilities typically run hotter and longer than conventional light water reactors, so they will require a new type of nuclear fuel tough enough to…

LLNL and NIST researchers have found a more robust method for entangling qubits by applying a ramped force (top). The approach controls trajectories in phase space (bottom) and allows for more precise entanglement control.

A more robust way to create entanglement in trapped ion qubits

While quantum computing could be the future, it is currently plagued by finicky hardware. To make the technology practical, researchers must demonstrate that it consistently and continuously works and performs at scale. In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Ion Storage Group at the…

Lawrence Livermore staff scientist and polymer chemist Johanna Schwartz leads the team for the SPOC (Studying-Polymers-On a-Chip) platform, one of six R&D 100 awards LLNL won this year. Image credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL.

Lab scientists and engineers win six R&D 100 awards

The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize…

LLNL researchers 3D-printed a transparent ceramic waveguide based on ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, or Yb:YAG. This approach could be used to greatly increase the power of fiber laser systems. (Image: Osborne et al.)

3D-printed ceramic waveguide lasers could surpass the power of glass fiber lasers by 10 times

At the bottom of the ocean, optical fibers transmit telecommunications and internet data across the world. Waveguides make that feat possible by channeling and amplifying the light — and therefore the data within — over enormous distances. And the technology goes beyond undersea cables. Waveguiding optics are among the most important advances in photonics since the…

LLNL interns contribute to mission-focused research while building technical skills and professional connections. (Photos: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL interns: Building skills through innovation and collaboration

Each summer, students from across the country join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to gain hands-on experience, work alongside researchers and contribute to projects supporting the Lab’s mission. Meet four interns whose work spans emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, actinide chemistry and additive manufacturing, and learn how their experiences…

Recent Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Machinist Apprenticeship Program graduates (l-r) Drew Hash, Chris Shaffer and Carin Herzog received their state-certified precision machinists’ certificates at a recent ceremony. (Photo: Manuel Iniguez.)

LLNL celebrates incoming and graduating machinist apprentices

Central to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) prestigious Machinist Apprenticeship Program is a tradition of mentorship and support. That was evident on July 23, when four new apprentices joined the program and three graduating apprentices transitioned to state-certified machinists. “We are so proud of you,” said Manuel Iniguez, Manufacturing Engineering…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help speed the process of advanced manufacturing. Pictured are (l-r) Robotics and Automation scientists and engineers Tony Qin, Karly Knox, Abhik Sarkar, Aldair Gongora and Michael Troksa. Photo: Blaise Douros/LLNL.

How LLNL is using AI, robotics and automation to accelerate advanced manufacturing

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers, in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help accelerate advanced manufacturing, materials discovery and experimental science. The work is part of a broader push to move faster from…

Group photo

Signal and image sciences community celebrates record-breaking 30th annual CASIS workshop

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop’s three-decade…

Researchers at LLNL and partners at Oxylus Energy are developing an electrochemical reactor that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

LLNL, Oxylus Energy capture commercialization grant with reactor that converts carbon waste to methanol

Many industrial processes produce large volumes of carbon as a waste product. New reactor technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the potential to turn that waste into a valuable feedstock for useful chemicals and fuels. The result could bolster domestic manufacturing, diversify supply chains and ensure lasting energy security in the U.S. These …

Genesis Mission graphic

LLNL selected to lead 10 projects under DOE’s Genesis Mission

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have been selected to lead 10 Phase I projects under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, applying AI to challenges spanning high-performance computing (HPC), fusion energy, Earth systems science, materials discovery, biology, quantum technologies and fundamental physics. LLNL…

The 220 LRUs delivered to the Nevada National Security Sites will support the Integrated Test Stand in North Las Vegas, where the ASD teams will operate the injector and two accelerator modules in a scaled version of Scorpius. Middleware hardware, shown in the third row from the bottom, provides communication between the hardware and the control systems. Together, these components help evaluate system performance before installation in the underground facility.

Milestone shipments power next phases of Scorpius accelerator project

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has completed delivery of the first 220 line-replaceable units (LRUs) to the Integrated Test Stand (ITS) at Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS), as well as the first 100 LRUs to be used at NNSS’s underground facility, the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE). The two major hardware delivery…

Battery diagram

With machine learning, LLNL researchers embrace the atomic-scale complexity of batteries

For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. In two recent publications, LLNL researchers examined how integrating molecular dynamics…

LLNL scientists Dylan Kline (front) and Justin McAlister evaluate finished, mock high-explosive materials produced using a modern pharmaceutical manufacturing process called extrusion-spheronization. (Photo credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Modernizing high-explosives manufacturing

For decades, manufacturing plastic-bonded high explosives, or PBXs, has relied on legacy processes like slurry coating. In this method, explosive crystals are mixed with a binder, a polymer that helps hold the material together, to form small granules called prills. Those prills are then pressed into dense explosive parts. This process is difficult to control, inefficient…

With specialized beamsplitters and precision freeform optics, scientists have generated a novel high-intensity laser that rotates like a spring. (Graphic: Brendan Thompson/LLNL)

Researchers create first-of-a-kind laser spring with LLNL’s highest-precision optics to date

When a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma, the charged particles typically oscillate back and forth like waves on the ocean. But what if the laser itself could twist like a whirlpool? Researchers have now demonstrated a rotating, spring-shaped laser pulse, opening up new possibilities for fusion energy, particle acceleration, astrophysics and beyond. In new…

Aires Tide brings together expertise across design, manufacturing and flight testing in a single cross-enterprise effort

LLNL helps advance AI-driven design and simulation for NNSA Aires Tide collaboration

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is contributing AI-enabled payload optimization and advanced modeling and simulation expertise to Aires Tide, a collaborative National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) demonstration exploring new ways to design flight test vehicles. Developed in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National…

Director Kim Budil and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz signed the agreement last week (Photos: UC Merced).

Agreement opens new opportunities for LLNL, UC Merced

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Merced have long been partners in cutting-edge science and technology. University students and researchers take part in numerous lab activities such as the Data Science Challenge, which brings students to Livermore to for an intensive two-week summer experience where they collaborate on complex scientific and…

Neuromorphic ionic devices have the potential to mimic the energy efficient computing found in the human brain. (Image: J. Cataldo/LLNL)

Bridging the gap between neuromorphic ionic computing and more efficient AI

The human brain is the ultimate supercomputer. It uses a highly-branched and interconnected network of neurons and synapses to achieve massive computational power with extreme efficiency. In the age of AI, the brain, a paradigm of efficient neuromorphic computing, is providing inspiration for scientists. Ionic computing — which uses ions to compute instead of the electrons…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Strategic Deterrence leaders gather at Site 300 during the site’s 70th anniversary Open House celebration (Photo by Randy Wong).

Site 300 marks 70 years with employee appreciation event, open house

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) marked Site 300’s 70th anniversary in May with two events celebrating the Experimental Test Site’s history, mission and people: an Employee Appreciation Day and a family-focused open house. Although Site 300 reached its 70-year milestone last fall, celebrations were delayed due to a lapse in federal government funding. The…