Developing Dense Plasma Focus Capabilities at the University Of Michigan

The Z-machine housed at Sandia National Laboratories is instrumental in plasma physics research across a range of applications including nuclear stockpile stewardship, materials testing, and inertial confinement fusion. University-scale z-pinch experiments can inform the high-value experiments conducted at Sandia. A Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) is one such type of z-pinch. Specifically, it involves a rapid plasma acceleration and compression resulting in a significant number of fusion reactions [1]. These fusion reactions are largely the result of micro-pinch instabilities, which are regions of extremely high pressure and temperature within the plasma. There are still many unanswered questions about these micro-pinch phenomena. Developing a better understanding of these phenomena could lead to profound implications for the field of high-energy-density physics.