Recent developments in fast Z-pinch plasma production using superterawatt generators

The development of fast Z-pinch technology at Physics International Company using generators with peak powers ≥ 10
¹²
W and ∼ 100 ns pulsewidths has produced argon plasmas with T
e
up to 1–2 keV, and n
e
= 10
²⁰
→ 2 × 10
²¹
/cm
³
from wire arrays and a gas puff technique. Results from gas puff experiments using the 5 TW PITHON generator are described. It is shown that modest extrapolations of the parameters to a deuterium-tritium gas can provide breakeven conditions for a ∼ 10 ns confinement time. The possibilities of an inductively driven plasma implosion with an opening switch operating in vacuum are described.