US National Ignition Facility Laboratory

April 17, 2026

Written by: Rocco Ceselin

The target bay at the US National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, holds a huge 130,000-kilogram spherical chamber (shown here) in which 192 laser beams converge on a small pellet of frozen isotopes with the aim of fusing their nuclei.

Just returned from an incredible experience at the US Ignition Facility in Livermore, CA, where I was commissioned by Nature magazine to capture a story about a groundbreaking nuclear fusion reaction that produced more energy than it consumed—a true milestone in science.

Annie Kritcher, a physicist at NIF, led the experimental campaign that finally achieved ignition.

I spent an entire day with a team of physicists and engineers, photographing the cutting-edge laboratories where these remarkable experiments unfold.NIF’s laser beams converge on a target called a hohlraum, which is held in place by a pair of silicon arms. Suspended inside the hohlraum is a diamond-coated capsule holding a frozen pellet of hydrogen isotopes.

Physicists Omar Hurricane (left) and Richard Town (right) sit in the control room at NIF.

NIF’s laser beams converge on a target called a hohlraum

This fabrication facility at NIF is a ‘clean room’ where researchers prepare the target, including the hohlraum and the frozen pellet of hydrogen isotopes.