PBFA Z: A 60-TW/5-MJ Z-pinch driver
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States)
- Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos, NM 94545 (United States)
PBFA Z, a new 60-TW/5-MJ electrical accelerator located at Sandia National Laboratories, is now the world{close_quote}s most powerful z-pinch driver. PBFA Z stores 11.4 MJ in its 36 Marx generators, couples 5 MJ into a 60-TW/105-ns FWHM pulse to the 120-m{Omega} water transmission lines, and delivers 3.0 MJ and 50 TW of electrical energy to the z-pinch load. Depending on load parameters, we attain peak load currents of 16{endash}20 MA with a current rise time of {approximately}105ns with wire-array z-pinch loads. We have extended the x-ray performance of tungsten wire-array z pinches from earlier Saturn experiments. Using a 2-cm-radius, 2-cm-long tungsten wire array with 240, 7.5-{mu}m diameter wires (4.1-mg mass), we achieved an x-ray power of 210 TW and an x-ray energy of 1.9 MJ. Preliminary spectral measurements suggest a mostly optically-thick, Planckian-like radiator below 1000 eV. Data indicate {approximately}100kJ of x rays radiated above 1000 eV. An intense z-pinch x-ray source with an overall coupling efficiency greater than 15{percent} has been demonstrated. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 606136
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9705120--
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 409; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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