The chamber was designed to accomodate a 1.8-megajoule laser; such a laser would easily trounce the previous world-record 1.6-megajoule laser. The focused beam, however, managed to reach an initial 1.875 megajoules, and surpassed the 2-million-joule marker after passing through the final focusing lenses.
Although the laser shot exceeded the scientists’ expectations, it did relatively little damage to the NIF’s laser optics. The scientists fired a second shot 36 hours after the world-record moment, and the laser will eventually be able to fire 15 times per second.
The whole point of this super-powerful laser is to produce a nuclear fusion reaction by fusing hydrogen isotopes. Yes, you read that right: nuclear fusion, the same energy-producing reaction that occurs in our Sun.
Later this year, scientists will fire the lasers at a target of hydrogen fuel–the experiment that the NIF chamber was designed to accommodate.
Do you believe manmade fusion energy is possible? Leave a comment.
[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via Nature and Physorg]
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