Laboratory fusion ignition (scientific gain above unity)
Ignición por fusión en laboratorio (ganancia mayor que uno)
- Date
- 2022 · confidence high
- Place
- National Ignition Facility, Livermore, California, United States
- Credited to
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (NIF)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
On 5 December 2022, 192 lasers compress a deuterium-tritium capsule that releases 3.15 MJ, more than the 2.05 MJ of laser energy deposited: the first controlled fusion ignition with a scientific gain above one, repeated and surpassed in 2023-2025. It demonstrates the physical feasibility of inertial fusion.
The gain refers to laser energy on the target; the facility's total electrical consumption was about a hundred times greater.
What it led to
- Inertial fusion energy programmes
- Physics of high-energy-density plasmas
- Validation of weapons and astrophysics simulation codes
Built on
- The laser (and maser)1960
- Bethe's stellar fusion
- Nuckolls's laser fusion proposal (1972)
- Tokamaks and JET (69 MJ record in 2024)
Made possible
- Inertial fusion reactors (under development)
- High-energy lasers and precision capsules