Lab fusion reaction produces brightest X-rays ever — SkimNews
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- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility first achieved fusion ignition in 2021, a self-sustaining reaction long seen as a milestone toward fusion energy.
- Ryan Lester at Los Alamos National Laboratory and colleagues added windows to the ignition capsule's gold cylinder, letting X-rays escape and producing the brightest lab-generated X-rays ever recorded.
- The team fired 192 laser beams into a pencil-eraser-sized gold cylinder holding heavy hydrogen, generating tens of trillions of watts of X-ray power — comparable to some red dwarf stars.
- Lester said the burning fuel and propagating blast wave make the experiment hotter than the sun, calling it "the hottest point in the local solar system."
- Laura Berzak Hopkins at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory said ignition was a generational accomplishment, and that reproducing it with a modified cylinder shows the platform can be adapted for new experiments.
- The setup could enable direct laboratory study of phenomena like the sun's opacity — how elements absorb radiation — instead of relying solely on computer simulations of extreme conditions.
- Lester said follow-on experiments testing whether low-density foams stabilize and improve the reaction could begin as early as next year.
Why it matters: By letting X-rays escape the ignition chamber, the team turned a fusion energy milestone into a diagnostic instrument — tens of trillions of watts bright enough to rival red dwarf stars — giving researchers direct, real-world measurements of extreme conditions previously accessible only through simulation. Reproducing ignition with a redesigned cylinder also shows the National Ignition Facility platform can be retooled, expanding the experimental menu beyond pure energy-yield demonstrations.
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