NPRE 596 Graduate Seminar Series - Patrick Poole

Bringing Star Power to Earth at the National Ignition Facility 

Abstract: The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the world’s most energetic laser with 192 separate beams delivering about 2 million Joules of energy in several nanoseconds to a target the size of a pencil eraser. The recent achievement of fusion ignition at the NIF marked a milestone for high energy density science, now with 11 successful demonstrations of scientific gain > 1 with the current record being 8.6 MJ output for 2.05 MJ laser input.  These experiments not only further understanding of the burning plasma regime and the stringent requirements to reach it but also provide an unprecedented opportunity for material physics tests under extreme radiation via neutron and x-ray interactions. As such NIF campaigns further the stockpile stewardship science mission of LLNL while also delivering the material science, plasma physics, and ultimately system engineering advances necessary for a future fusion energy power plant. This talk will review the recent progress of ignition on the NIF, show some materials effects results performed to date, and motivate what must come next for a fusion power device based on this approach.

Bio: Patrick Poole is a Physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he performs plasma physics experiments at the National Ignition Facility. Patrick received Bachelor’s degrees in both physics and applied mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology before obtaining a master’s degree and PhD in plasma physics from The Ohio State University. Since arriving at LLNL his research has spanned several aspects of High Energy Density (HED) science and plasma physics including material science under extreme x-ray and neutron irradiation, radiography of complex hydrodynamic phenomenon, and developing photonics capabilities using novel plasma optics. He wears many hats including Workforce and Academic Outreach Lead for the Livermore Institute of Fusion Technology, Coordinator of LLNL experiments at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and Director of the NIF and Photon Science Summer Scholar Program.