Origins
The Z machine origins can be traced from the Department of Energy need to replicate in a lab environment the fusion reactions of a thermonuclear bomb, to better understand the physics involved.
Since the 1970's the DoE had been looking into ways to generate electricity from fusion reactions, with continuous reactions such as Tokamaks or discrete fusion of small balls of light atoms. Since at the time lasers were far from having the required power, the main approach considered was Heavy Ion Fusion. However major advances such as Q-switching and Mode-locking made lasers an option (culminating into the National Ignition Facility) and the Heavy Ion Fusion programs became more or less dormant. In 1985 the review of DoE's program by the National Academies stated "The energy crisis is dormant for the time being". Heavy Ion Fusion machines were tasked to help military research improve nuclear bombs.
The first research at Sandia dates back from 1971 where Gerold Yonas initiated and directed the particle-beam fusion program.
In the December 1976 issue of Popular Science and in 1976 conference proceedings published in 1977, an article titled "Particle Beam Fusion Research" describes early work and first generation machines: Hydra (1972); Proto I (1975); Proto II (1977); EBFA/PBFA (1980). In 1985 the PBFA-II is created. Sandia continues to target Heavy Ion Fusion at a slow pace despite the National Academies report.
The November 1978 issue of Scientific American carries Yonas' first general public article "Fusion power with particle beam"
Meanwhile defense-related research was also ongoing at Sandia with the Hermes III machine and Saturn (1987), upgraded from PBFA-I, which operated at lower total power than PBFA-II but advanced Sandia's knowledge in high-voltage and high current and was therefore an useful predecessor to the Z machine. In 1996 the US Army published a report on the decommissioning of the Aurora Pulsed Radiation Simulator. This report is useful in understanding ties between nuclear arms testing and inertial fusion energy research.
Also in 1996 the PBFA-II machine is once again upgraded into PBFA-Z or simply "Z machine" described for the first time to the general public on August 1998 in Scientific American
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