Pulsed Power and SF6
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
The Z Machine began operation in 1985 as the Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator 2 (PBFA-II). It was built as a high voltage driver to generate light ion beams in support of the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program. In 1996 PBFA-II was converted to a high current mode to investigate recent advances in imploding wire-array X-ray generation that Sandia scientists had made at the Saturn facility. Sandia planned to split the machine’s time between the high voltage ion beam mode and the high current X-ray generation mode, but the initial tests were so successful the machine was kept in the high current configuration. The machine was renamed the ‘Z Machine’ and scientists developed a number of experimental uses for the extremely high current outputs of Z, including dynamic material studies and the Isentropic Compression Experiments (ICE). In 2007 the Z Machine was refurbished to update machine components, many of which were original to the 1985 PBFA-II configuration. During the refurbishment project new technological improvements were incorporated nearly doubling the output power of the machine without increasing its overall size.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Science (NA-113)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1334943
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--2016-12168R; 649600
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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