News Archives - Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Group of people standing in LLE's east lobby.

LLE Hosts the 15th International Laser Operations Workshop

October 15, 2026

LLE recently hosted the 15th International Laser Operations Workshop (ILOW), which is held every two years and brings together scientists, engineers, and laser operators from around the world to discuss…

Physics of Plasmas cover featuring a scatter plot comparing with and without ablative terms.

ICF Article Featured on the Cover of Physics of Plasmas

October 13, 2026

Congratulations to LLE scientists Valeri Goncharov, Duc Cao, Tim Collins, and Alexander Shvydky, whose paper “Hot-Spot Pressure Evolution in Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions” was featured on the cover of the…

Photo portrait of Jessica Shaw.

Awards, Honors & Fellowships

Jessica Shaw Receives 2026 APS Thomas H. Stix Award

October 6, 2026

It is with great pleasure that we announce that LLE staff scientist Jessica Shaw has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Thomas H. Stix Award for Outstanding Early…

Group of high school students on a tour of OMEGA EP Laser System at LLE.

LLE Celebrates 37th Annual Summer High School Research Program

September 28, 2026

This year marked the 37th annual Summer High School Research Program at LLE, in which rising seniors from high schools in the greater Rochester area had the opportunity to…

Illustration of laser-plasma amplification: a blue plasma wave transfers energy from a red pump laser to a glowing pink seed laser against a dark background.

Jessica Shaw and Team Achieve Record-Breaking Energy Transfer and Compression in Plasma Amplification Research

September 2, 2026

Congratulations to LLE staff scientist Jessica Shaw and her team, whose groundbreaking research has set a new benchmark in laser-plasma amplification (LPA) by achieving record energy transfer, efficiency, and temporal…

A figure depicting a molecular simulation and a temperature–pressure plot with a shaded region identifying the insulating atomic H–He mixture.

Karasiev and Team Receive Funding from NSF for New Research Investigating Warm Dense Matter

September 1, 2026

Congratulations to Valentin Karasiev, principal investigator (PI), and co-PIs Suxing Hu and Samuel Trickey (University of Florida) on their recent award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their proposal,…

Marcos Ibáñez Matles standing in front of the NNSS Sedan Crater.

Awards, Honors & Fellowships

Marcos Ibáñez Matles Selected for a Fulbright Award

August 25, 2026

LLE proudly recognizes Marcos Ibáñez Matles for earning the prestigious Fulbright US Student Award! The Fulbright Program places its US Student Award recipients abroad for a year or more to…

Milestone Celebration Marks Three Anniversaries at LLE

August 20, 2026

More than 100 researchers, government leaders, and collaborators from around the world gathered at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) on July 15–17 for a three-day celebration…

Group of graduate students and mentors standing outside Eastman School of Music's Kodak Hall.

Ever Better: Stories of Learning and Collaboration at LLE

August 12, 2026

During his doctoral studies at LLE, David Bishel remembers asking a senior scientist about a problem he was struggling with. Without hesitation, the scientist invited David over to his office…

Group photo of Riccardo Betti, Mark Guardalben, and Varchas Gopalaswamy standing in front of Conesus computer cluster at the University of Rochester’s Primary Data Center.

LLE Selected for DOE Genesis Mission Award to Advance AI-Driven Fusion Research

The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has been selected for a Phase I award under the US Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, a national initiative to harness…

Illustration of lasers interacting with lenses.

Jeremy Pigeon and Team Publish New Flying-Focus Research in Nature Communications

LLE is thrilled to announce the publication of new research by scientist Jeremy Pigeon and coauthors in Nature Communications. His article, “Spatiotemporal Shaping of Terahertz Radiation Produced by a Two-Color…

Photo of officials cutting a ribbon in front of the MTW-OPAL Target Chamber.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Celebrates New MTW-OPAL Target Chamber

On Friday, July 17, a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the new MTW-OPAL target chamber. LLE has traditionally focused on science created by “long-pulse” lasers, but the development of chirped-pulse amplification and…