Sponsors
Federal and State Support for Science and Education at Scale
U.S. Department of Energy
LLE is the largest U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded university-based research center and a unique national resource for research, innovation, and training in inertial confinement fusion (ICF), high-energy-density (HED) science, and laser technologies.
National Nuclear Security Administration
LLE is proudly funded by the Department of Energy’s NNSA under its Inertial Confinement Fusion Program, supporting high-energy-density and fusion research and the development of advanced laser technologies in support of stockpile stewardship. This funding also enables access to the Omega Laser Facility for a broad research community and helps train the next generation of scientists and engineers, making LLE the only major ICF facility based at an academic institution.
IFE-STAR, IFE-COLoR
IFE-STAR is a national platform led by the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), that advances inertial fusion energy (IFE) through coordinated science, technology, and workforce development. IFE-COLoR, also led by LLE, partners with UCLA, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Ergodic LLC, and Xcimer Energy to tackle key barriers by developing high-bandwidth laser systems that suppress instabilities and optimize energy coupling. These combined efforts integrate laser technology, modeling, and experiments to define a sustainable path to future fusion facilities. Together, IFE-STAR and IFE-COLoR nurture innovation, build a national fusion ecosystem, and prepare the next generation of fusion leaders.
LaserNetUS
LaserNetUS, North America’s high-intensity laser research network, was established in 2018 to provide scientists and students from the U.S. and abroad with access to high-power laser facilities across the United States and Canada that house some of the most powerful laser systems in the world, including the OMEGA EP Laser System.
U.S. National Science Foundation
U.S. Department of Defense
Pulsed Laser Effects
LLE receives critical funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to advance research in pulsed laser effects to enhance national defense capabilities while fostering innovation in laser science and technology. The funding also supports workforce development by training the next generation of scientists and engineers skilled in laser technologies essential to future defense systems.
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
The AFOSR has invested in building the MTW-OPAL Target Chamber to complete a new mid-scale petawatt laser facility that will enable fundamental research, including high-field physics, laser-based secondary sources (THz, x-rays, and charged particles), high-energy-density physics, and directed energy.
The target chamber will provide an opportunity for investigators across multiple disciplines (e.g., high-power lasers, ultrashort-pulse laser–matter physics, optics, THz science, and high-energy-density physics) to advance novel science while providing hands-on training for graduate students, engineers, and technicians. As a result, the final infrastructure project will establish a facility for short-pulse, laser-enabled science education, addressing a national need relevant to the AFOSR and other agencies.