United States Naval Research Laboratory
馃嚭馃嚫 Washington, DC, US 路 Founded 1923 路 Active
Also known as NRL, Naval Research Laboratory, Nike laser
The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the research laboratory of the US Navy and Marine Corps, founded in 1923 in Washington, DC, and now part of the Office of Naval Research. Plasma physics is one of its specialties. It operates Nike, a 56-beam krypton fluoride laser that delivers 4 to 5 kilojoules per pulse in the ultraviolet. Nike was completed in the late 1980s and is used for inertial confinement fusion research.
- Sector
- Fusion
- Technology
- Inertial confinement
- Role
- Research institute, Operator
Terms
- Inertial confinement
- Compressing fuel so fast that its own inertia holds it together long enough to burn: nanoseconds, not seconds. Every ICF approach shares the same open problem beyond ignition itself: repeating a shot several times a second at low enough cost per shot to run a power plant, which no driver has yet demonstrated.
Related companies
Sources
- United States Naval Research Laboratoryaggregator
- Nike laseraggregator