New developments and applications of intense pulsed radiation sources at Sandia National Laboratories

Advancements have been made in X-ray production using high-current z-pinches. Today, the X-ray energy (1.9 MJ) and power (200 TW) output of the Z accelerator (formerly PBFA-II) is the largest available in the laboratory. These z-pinch X-ray sources are being developed for research into the physics of high energy density plasmas of interest in weapon behavior and in inertial confinement fusion. Beyond the Z accelerator current of 20 MA, an extrapolation to the X-1 accelerator level of 60 MA may have the potential to drive high-yield ICF reactions at affordable cost if several challenging technical problems can be overcome. New developments have also taken place at Sandia in the area of high current, mm-diameter electron beams for advanced hydrodynamic radiography. On SABRE, X-ray spot diameters were less than 2 mm, with a dose of 100 R at 1 meter in a 40 ns pulse.