Laser fusion progress: in 1983, the NOVETTE laser was completed. The following December, the ten-beam NOVA laser was finished. Five years later, NOVA produced 120 kilojoules of infrared light during a nanosecond pulse.
Research focused on either fast delivery or beam smoothness. Both focused on increasing energy uniformity. One early problem was that the light in the infrared wavelength lost energy before hitting the fuel. Breakthroughs were made at LLE at University of Rochester. Rochester scientists used frequency-tripling crystals to transform infrared laser beams into ultraviolet beams.