CHRONOLOGY OF STAGED Z-PINCH RESEARCH

Z-pinch creates a unique state of matter, by passing a very large current through a uniquely designed load that compresses it to an extremely dense and hot matter called plasma. The goal has been to achieve a net gain in controlled thermonuclear fusion energy. Instabilities normally disrupt the implosion process, and control of these instabilities was a major challenge since the early fifties. The research, over the last four decades, at the University of California, Irvine, was mainly focused on finding the mechanisms to control these instabilities. Below are some of the publications that demonstrate the concept of staged Z-pinch that produces a stable implosion and a net gain in energy production of 40 to 50.

Stabilization of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (1983-1987)

Ruden. E.H.U. Rahman. A. Fisher, and N. Rostoker. “Stability Enhancement of Low Initial Density Hollow Gas Puff Z-Pinch by e-Beam Preionization,” J. App. Phys. 61, 1311(1987).

Magnetic flux Compression (1984-1988)

Felber, F.S., F.J. Wessel. N.C. Wild. H.U. Rahman, A. Fisher. C.M. Fowler, M.A. Liberman and A.L.Velikovich. “Ultrahigh Magnetic Fields Produced in a Gas-Puff Z Pinch,” J. Appl. Phy. 64, 3831(1988).

Discovery of Z-theta Pinch (1987-1994)

Rahman, H.U., P. Ney., F.J. Wessel and N. Rostoker, “Inertial Confinement Fusion in a Z-theta Pinch”,Comments Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 15,339(1994)..

Discovery of staged Z-pinch and current amplification (1995)

Rahman, H.U., F.J. Wessel, and N. Rostoker, “Staged Z-Pinch”, Phys. Rev. Lett., 74, 714(1995)..

Experimental verification of staged Z-pinch (1998-2004)

Rahman, H. U., P. Ney, N. Rostoker, A. Van Drie, F. J. Wessel, “Control of the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in a Staged Z-pinch”, Phys. Plasmas, 11, 5595(2004).

Fusion breakeven and beyond was predicted in 2006

Rahman, H. U., F. J. Wessel, N. Rostoker, and P. Ney, “High yield fusion in a Staged Z-pinch”,J. Plasma Physics, 75, 749(2009).
Rahman,H. U., P. Ney, N. Rostoker,F. J.Wessel, “Fusion in Staged Z-pinch”,Astrophys. Space Sci, 323, 51(2009).
Rahman, H. U., F. J. Wessel, P. Ney, R. Presura, Rahmat Ellahi, and P. K. Shukla, “Shock waves in a Z-pinch and the formation of high energy density plasma” 19, 122701(2012).