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The Z Machine is the world's most powerful X-ray sourceNovember 19, 2007The Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. It is operated by Sandia National Laboratories to gather data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons. The Z machine is located at Sandia's main site in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  When the Z machine fires, the energy from a 20-million-ampere electrical discharge vaporizes an array of thin, parallel tungsten wires, creating plasma. Originally designed to supply 50 terawatts of power in one fast pulse, technological advances resulted in an increased output of 290 terawatts, enough to study nuclear fusion. Z releases 80 times the world's electrical power output for a few billionths of a second.  The image shows electrical discharges that illuminate the surface of the Z machine. By early 1998, the Sandia National Laboratories accelerator had achieved temperatures of 1.8 million degrees, close to the 2 to 3 million degrees required for nuclear fusion. Sandia announced the fusing of deuterium in the Z machine on April 7, 2003.
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