ProChem Celebrates the Anniversary of NIF’s Successful Fusion Ignition

December 5th marked the 1-year anniversary of the groundbreaking achievement of fusion ignition at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Decades of dedicated research and development at their National Ignition Facility (NIF) paved the way for this achievement. Our team at ProChem is honored to have been one of their trusted suppliers since 1988. For 35 years we have been securing their supply chain by consistently manufacturing bulk quantities of high purity potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) used in the process of rapid growth of very large KDP crystals – many reaching 2 cubic feet in size and weighing up to 800 pounds!

Development of the rapid-growth technology reduced the growth time of these crystals from two years to less than two months.  The very large sizes mean more plates can be cut from each KDP crystal, more efficiently manufacturing the 600+ KDP crystal plates needed to transmit the 192 laser beams toward a single fusion target.

Today we look back and celebrate the success of the teams at the NIF, while looking forward continuing our legacy as a trusted US partner for the highest quality chemicals for advanced materials applications. What will your next breakthrough be, and how can we help you get there?