Duryea's Schott Glass plays big part in fusion power break through

Dec. 26—DURYEA — It will go down in history as a monumental first, accomplished in far-off California, in a high-tech facility that could comfortably house three football fields. Yet a big chunk of what made it possible came from off-the-beaten-path York Road in humble Duryea Borough here in Luzerne County.

"It's the reason this (building) wing is here," Bill James said as he sat in a simply-furnished office of the Schott North America facility. "This was made to support work at NIF."

That would be the the National Ignition Facility of the U.S. Department of Energy, home to scientists who created the world's first controlled fusion reaction that released more energy than researchers blasted into it. Time Magazine called it "a huge milestone." Numerous reports pointed out the potential — still decades away if at all possible — of fusion technology creating limitless, clean energy.

Fusion is the process that powers the sun. If mastered, it makes nuclear energy without the risk of meltdowns or the problem of waste disposal encountered with the current use of fission for energy production. There are various attempts to create controlled fusion (hydrogen bombs create uncontrolled fusion reactions) around the world using different techniques. In this case, the NIF facility aimed and amplified lasers at a tiny capsule filled with hydrogen isotopes. The trick was to get the lasers so amplified they emitted sufficient heat and pressure on the hydrogen to spawn the fusion reaction.

There are 192 lasers, and each is individually amplified by 16 glass slabs infused with a neodymium, an element considered a rare earth metal. That's 3,070 plates of neodymium-doped laser glass plates, each about three feet long, half as wide and 1.3 inches thick.

And the Duryea Schott plant produced nearly half of those plates (the rest were made by a Japanese company — every mission-critical supply has at least two sources). One plate stands on display in the lobby, tilted about 45 degrees into the air and catching the eye with a shade of, let's call it, dusky pink?

"For me, that glass is purple," said Joe Hayden, who worked along with hundreds of other Schott employees for decades supporting the NIF laser program.

And he's right about the color, of course. James dimmed the lobby lights, and the true glass hue emerged: Purple, no question.

So, half of the all important laser amplification glass plates used in a history-making experiment of nuclear fusion were manufactured in Duryea. That's quite a feather in Schott NA's cap, right.

Well, yeah. But with a hint of TV ad pitchman, Hayden, now a Schott Research Fellow, leans ever so slightly forward and says "but there's more."

Despite the imposing size of the NIF lab, it's not nearly long enough to aim all those lasers in straight lines. The beams must "bend" and angle into a special chamber, and the mirrors that do the bending are manufactured by Schott.

"But there's more."

The lasers must, of course, be focused to that fine point. The lenses that do the focusing? From Schott.

"But there's more."

When the fusion occurs, the hydrogen emits material that coats the walls of the chamber. Special disposable debris shields are used to capture the material. And while the glass for the debris shields is manufactured elsewhere, a coating needed to make them function properly is applied at the Duryea facility.

"The bottom line?" Hayden says, "Schott's premiere optical played a dominant roll" in the NIF success.

Hayden is quick to frequently deflect any credit, noting that over the decades more than 1,000 Schott employees had to be involved. Still, he's excited to be a small part of major fusion first.

"This is a thrill," he said. While it may not offer practical energy production in his own life time, "For our children, this is a very significant event."

"And a big part of it happened here in Northeast Pennsylvania," James added. "This is world changing."

Oh, and if you're a sci-fi geek wondering if such powerful lasers can be used in death ray guns, Hayden says the notion is unlikely.

"If a man stood in front of it, he'd probably just get a bad sunburn. Maybe a second degree burn."

Which doesn't diminish the accomplishment.

"The temperature and pressure created at the target, you don't find that anywhere on earth. You've got to go to the center of the sun."

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish