Gooch & Housego has received its second ‘Vendor Appreciation’ award from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This latest award credits Gooch & Housego’s performance in the growth and fabrication of crystals for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the LLNL.
The large aperture potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and potassium dideuterium phosphate (KD*P) crystals, supplied by Gooch & Housego Cleveland in the US, will be used for harmonic frequency generation and plasma electrode Pockels cells at the NIF, which aims to achieve self-sustaining nuclear fusion and energy gain. The consistently high quality crystals are the largest produced in the world and, due to Gooch & Housego’s ability in the machining of KDP components and its 30-year relationship with the LLNL, it is now the only approved KDP fabrication site supplying the NIF.
This is the second award presented to the company within the space of four months. Gooch & Housego Ilminster, based in the UK, was recognised in January for the supply of crystal quartz wave plates to the NIF program.
The NIF, which will be complete in 2009, will be used as part of the US Department Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship programme to ensure the safety and security of the nuclear weapons stockpile. The NIF will also be used for energy, astrophysics and basic science research.
