Staged Z-pinch for Fusion

The Staged Z-pinch (SZP)$\footnote{H. U. Rahman, F. J. Wessel, and N. Rostoker. Staged Z-pinch. PRL, 74:714, 1995}$ is configured as a plasma shell imploding onto an uniform, plasma fill (50:50 Deuterium:Tritium); the pinch is pre-magnetized, with an axial $B_z$ field. Gas-puff experiments, at the University of California, Irvine,$\footnote{F. J. Wessel, Staged Z-pinch, Final Report, DoE FG03-93ER544220, March 2000}$ 1.25 MA, 1.25 $ \mu$s, and 50 kJ, demonstrated that the implosion was stable, as primary (DD) and secondary (DT) neutrons were produced at peak compression. Subsequent analysis accounts for the stability and neutron yield, indicating that the SZP implosion is magneto-inertial, shock-driven, with magneto-sonic shocks in the liner and ordinary (sonic) shocks in the target. The shock waves preheat the target, as a stable, current-carrying, shock front forms at the interface. Near-term, the SZP team will test pinch loads on the 1 MA, 130 ns, 100 kJ University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada Terawatt, Zebra Facility. This paper details the context and our specific plans for the upcoming experiments, as well as our recent simulations predicting breakeven fusion on existing devices.