A capability to produce quasi-isentropic compression of solids using pulsed magnetic loading on the Z accelerator has recently been developed and demonstrated [C. A. Hall, Phys. Plasmas 7, 2069 (2000)]. This technique allows planar, continuous compression of materials to stresses approaching 1.5 Mbar. In initial stages of development, the experimental configuration used a magnetically loaded material cup or disk as the sample of interest pressed into a conductor. This installation caused distortions that limited the ability to attach interferometer windows or other materials to the rear of the sample. In addition, magnetic pressure was not completely uniform over sample dimensions of interest. A new modular configuration is described that improves the uniformity of loading over the sample surface, allows materials to be easily attached to the magnetically loaded sample, and improves the quality of data obtained. Electromagnetic simulations of the magnetic field uniformity for this new configuration will also be presented. Comparisons between data on copper to ∼300 kbar using the old and new experimental configurations will also be made. Results indicate that to within experimental error, the configurations produce similar results in the pressure-volume plane.

The three-dimensional, particle-in-cell code QUICKSILVER [J. P. Quintenz et al., Lasers Part. Beams 12, 283 (1994)] is now being used to simulate the inner region of the Z accelerator [R. B. Spielman et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 2105 (1998)] at Sandia National Laboratories. The simulations model electron flow and anode losses in the double post-hole convolute, which couples four radial, magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs) in parallel to a single MITL that drives a Z-pinch load. To efficiently handle the large range in the magnetic field, 0<B<200 T, the particle pusher is modified to subcycle the electron advance relative to the field solver. Results from a series of simulations using a constant-impedance load are presented. The locations of electron losses to the anode in the convolute are in qualitative agreement with damage to the Z hardware. The electron energy deposited in these anode regions rapidly heats the surface to temperatures above 400 °C—the threshold at which anode plasma formation is expected.

Pulsed power accelerators compress electrical energy in space and time to provide versatile experimental platforms for high energy density and inertial confinement fusion science. The 80-TW “Z” pulsed power facility at Sandia National Laboratories is the largest pulsed power device in the world today. Z discharges up to 22 MJ of energy stored in its capacitor banks into a current pulse that rises in 100 ns and peaks at a current as high as 30 MA in low-inductance cylindrical targets. Considerable progress has been made over the past 15 years in the use of pulsed power as a precision scientific tool. This paper reviews developments at Sandia in inertial confinement fusion, dynamic materials science, x-ray radiation science, and pulsed power engineering, with an emphasis on progress since a previous review of research on Z in Physics of Plasmas in 2005.

A technique has previously been developed on the Z accelerator [R. B. Spielman et al., Phys. Plasmas 5, 2105 (1998)] to generate ramped compression waves in condensed matter for equation-of-state studies [C. A. Hall, J. R. Asay, M. D. Knudson, W. A. Stygar, R. B. Spielman, T. D. Pointon, D. B. Reisman, A. Toor, and R. C. Cauble, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 72, 3587 (2001)] by using the Lorentz force to push on solid electrodes rather than to drive a Z pinch. This technique has now been extended to multimegabar pressures by shaping the current pulse on Z to significantly increase the sample thickness through which the compression wave can propagate without forming a shock. Shockless, free-surface velocity measurements from multiple sample thicknesses on a single experiment can be analyzed using a backward integration technique [D. B. Hayes, C. A. Hall, J. R. Asay, and M. D. Knudson, J. Appl. Phys. 94, 2331 (2003)] to extract an isentropic loading curve. At very high pressures, the accuracy of this method is dominated by relative uncertainty in the transit time between two thicknesses. This paper discusses in some detail the issues involved with accurate measurement of a multimegabar isentrope, including experiment design trade-offs and mechanics of pulse shaping on Z.

Quasiequilibrium power flow in two radial magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs) coupled to a vacuum post-hole convolute is studied at 50 TW-200 TW using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations The voltages assumed for this study result in electron emission from all cathode surfaces. Electrons emitted from the MITL cathodes upstream of the convolute cause a portion of the MITL current to be carried by an electron sheath. Under the simplifying assumptions made by the simulations, it is found that the transition from the two MITLs to the convolute results in the loss of most of the sheath current to anode structures. The loss is quantified as a function of radius and correlated with Poynting vector stream lines which would be followed by individual electrons. For a fixed MITLconvolute geometry, the current loss, defined to be the difference between the total (i.e. anode) current in the system upstream of the convolute and the current delivered to the load, increases with both operating voltage and load impedance. It is also found that in the absence of ion emission, the convolute is efficient when the load impedance is much less than the impedance of the two parallel MITLs. The effects of space-charge-limited (SCL) ion emission from anode surfaces are considered for several specific cases. Ion emission from anode surfaces in the convolute is found to increase the current loss by a factor of 2-3. When SCL ion emission is allowed from anode surfaces in the MITLs upstream of the convolute, substantially higher current losses are obtained. Note that the results reported here are valid given the spatial resolution used for the simulations.