A capsule review of three years of progress in the Sandia z-pinch program
In May 1996 modifications began to the PBFA II accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories to produce fast (submicrosecond) plasma implosions, called z pinches, that are driven by intense magnetic fields ({approximately} 1,000 Tesla) associated with the large ({approximately} 20 MA) axial currents. The modifications to the water lines, the insulator stack, and the self-magnetically-insulated transmission lines were completed in September 1996, and the first z-pinch-driven x-ray radiation source shot on the new facility occurred on October 2. Today the facility, renamed Z, is the most energetic source of laboratory x rays and has led to what some have termed a renaissance in z pinches for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and defense applications. The first six months of Z operation were devoted to adding and testing new diagnostics and to evaluating and optimizing the x-ray source. X-ray energies approaching 2 MJ, x-ray powers in excess of 200 TW, and radiation pulse lengths as short as 4 ns have been achieved. Since then, application experiments have been done in the areas of shock physics, radiation flow, equations of state, astrophysics, ICF, weapon physics, and radiation effects an Z. In addition, the early-time dynamics of the z-pinch source has been investigated via experiments on lower-current accelerators at Imperial College, the Naval Research Laboratory, Cornell University, TRINTI, and the University of Reno. In tandem with the experimental and diagnostic progress, simulations and analytic theory are being used to develop a deeper understanding of the physics of z-pinch sources and to design radiation cavities (hohlraums) that are driven by the intense x rays that the multiple-wire sources on Z generate. In this poster presentation, the three years of progress in the z-pinch program are summarized.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 20051001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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