Laser-pulsed-power experiment

The Zebra Pulsed power laboratory at UNR houses a Mega-Ampere current pulsed power generator, Zebra, and a high-intensity, short-pulse laser, Leopard and provides a coupled configuration of the laser delivering into the pulsed power vacuum chamber. This unique capability at a university-scale facility is used in various experimental platforms to study high energy density plasmas with strong magnetic fields.

Our research focuses on the creation of magnetically-driven solid density plasma of a metal wire and development of the short-pulse, laser-based diagnostics for probing the dense plasma. A slow-rise pulsed power current compared to laser pulses (~ 1 ns) can compress a solid to a high density without significant heating. A cylindrically compressed mm-diameter metal wire is predicted to be conditions in warm dense matter that exist the interiors of giant planets and inertial confinement fusion cores. In this project, we design and execute experiments to diagnose such a compressed wire and its conditions such as density and compressibility.