Quick Shot

The LLNL Low-Mode Asymmetries Team was awarded the Defense Programs Award of Excellence “in recognition of significantly advancing the pathway to fusion ignition in ICF implosions through identification of key degradation mechanisms.” Hans Rinderknecht, the Relativistic Laser-Plasma Experiments Group Leader at LLE is a key member of this team and shared in the award. The asymmetries team was chartered to understand the source of azimuthal drive asymmetry in hohlraums. Hans was the lead author on a paper in Physical Review Letters (2020) that described this award-winning research. The Defense Programs Award of Excellence is presented by the National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Defense Programs for outstanding contributions to the nation’s nuclear weapons program.