Dense z-pinch research at the Nevada Terawatt Facility

Conference · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:20050983

Bauer, B S; Kantsyrev, V L; Le Galloudec, N ^[1]

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1. and others

A high-repetition-rate, 2-terawatt z-pinch (HDZP-II from LANL: 2 MV, 1 MA, 100 ns, 200 kJ, 1.9 ohm) has been reassembled to investigate the early-time evolution of a current-driven wire, the plasma turbulence around and between wires, the acceleration of a plasma current sheet by a magnetic field, and the suppression or reduction of plasma instabilities. The heating, expansion, and dynamics of wires driven by current prepulses similar to those at SNL-Z is being examined first. Optical, laser, and radiographic measurements of prepulse-driven exploding wires will be compared with the modeling results of D. Reisman et al. (LLNL). SNL-Z wires are exploded by an independent pulse generator (100 kV, 2kA, 50 ns). Plasma self-emission, laser-schlieren, laser-absorption, and interferometric images (10 micron, 0.1 ns resolution) are obtained with streak cameras (S-1 and S-20) and an Nd: glass laser (30 ns, 1,064 or 532 nm). Multiframe point-projection radiography (few-micron, sub-ns resolution) is achieved by driving several x-pinch backlighters with HDZP-II. In addition, laser-induced-fluorescence imaging and x-ray absorption spectroscopy are being developed for this prepulse experiment, while laser polarimetry and collective Thomson scattering, and a suite of x-ray diagnostics (see next poster), are being developed for future high-current experiments.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy; Sandia National Laboratories; National Science Foundation; US Department of Defense
• OSTI ID: 20050983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
EXPLOSIONS
LONGITUDINAL PINCH
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA PRODUCTION
PULSE GENERATORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS