Timeline - 1983 - Laboratory for Laser Energetics

McCrory Appointed LLE Director
After a nationwide search, Robert L. McCrory, head of LLE’s Theoretical Division, was named director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics on January 1, 1983. John Soures was appointed deputy director.

First Six Beams Converted
The first six beams of OMEGA were converted and started operating in the ultraviolet. LLE also operated the OMEGA and Glass Development Laser (GDL) for LLE experiments and those carried out by National Laser Users Facility (NLUF) users.

Spider-Silk Target Mount
The development of spider-silk target mounting by Steve Noyes of LLE was published for the first time in an article in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology.

B. A. Brinker, J. M. Cavese, J. R. Miller, S. G. Noyes, S. Sheble, and L. T. Whitaker, “Inertial Fusion Target Mounting Methods: New Fabrication Procedures Reduce the Mounting Support Perturbation,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 (2), 941–944 (1983).

Portrait of a man in a suit seated in front of a bookshelf filled with books. — Robert L. McCrory, LLE director

Historic photo of a laser facility with rows of large green optical or laser beamline components. — The OMEGA Laser is shown photographed in its own harmonic light. This picture was taken during system tests after the first six of the 24 infrared (1054-nm) beams were converted to 351-nm operation

Four-panel scientific figure showing schematic diagrams of a circular target and corresponding experimental images of bright, star-shaped emission patterns. — Improvements in implosion symmetry from the use of spider silk

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