Physics of High-Density Z-Pinch Plasmas

Plasmas are a hot, ionized gas that conducts electric currents, as in a spark or bolt of lightning; they can reach temperatures of millions of degrees. Sending a large electric current through a fine wire vaporizes it, producing a dense plasma confined by the magnetic field the current generates. The direction along the wire (and the current) is generally referred to as the z-axis, hence the name z-pinch for the magnetic interaction that confines the plasma along the z-axis. Such plasmas can produce intense radiation over a wide spectrum and also show promise of leading to conditions for controlled nuclear fusion.