ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Postdoctoral researchers who are designated Truman and Hruby fellows experience Sandia National Laboratories differently from their peers. Appointees to the prestigious fellowships are given the latitude to pursue their own ideas, rather than being trained by fitting into the research plans of more experienced researchers. To give wings to this process, the […]
Tag Archives: pulsed power
Setting gold and platinum standards where few have gone before
June 24, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine — generator of the world’s most powerful electrical pulses — and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility — the planet’s most energetic laser source — in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at […]
Sandia Fellow wins nuclear fusion award
January 16, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories Fellow Keith Matzen has been awarded the 2019 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates, a national nonprofit research and educational foundation, for his many contributions to the laboratory development of nuclear fusion. The foundation annually brings together senior U.S. and international fusion experts to review the status of […]
Dan Sinars represents Sandia in first energy leadership class
March 13, 2017 – 8:15 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Dan Sinars, a senior manager in Sandia National Laboratories’ pulsed power center, which built and operates the Z facility, is the sole representative from a nuclear weapons lab in a Department of Energy leadership program that recently visited Sandia. Members of the Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program (OSELP) are up-and-coming leaders […]
Tritium introduced in fusion experiments at Sandia
November 9, 2016 – 5:00 am
More powerful fuel to boost Z Machine’s neutron output ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories Z Machine have opened a new chapter in their 20-year journey toward higher fusion outputs by introducing tritium, the most neutron-laden isotope of hydrogen, to their targets’ fuel. When Z fires, its huge electromagnetic field crushes pre-warmed fuel, […]
Sandia physicist Jim Bailey wins major physics award for 10-year study of the sun
July 28, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — By testing bits of iron at the temperature of the sun, Sandia National Laboratories physicist Jim Bailey and his team have provided key data to improve the Standard Solar Model, widely used by astrophysicists to help model the behavior of stars. For this work, Bailey will receive the American Physical Society’s annual […]
World’s fastest multiframe digital X-ray camera created at Sandia
June 2, 2016 – 11:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An adversary who steps inside a boxer’s sense of rhythm may land a punch the boxer never saw coming. A similar problem faces physicists struggling to achieve laboratory-scale nuclear fusion: A rogue event occurring between successively monitored images may knock an otherwise promising experiment off-kilter without anyone seeing the cause. To narrow […]
Thor’s hammer to crush materials at 1 million atmospheres
January 5, 2016 – 5:00 am
Sophisticated features may influence eventual Z-machine rebuild ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A new Sandia National Laboratories accelerator called Thor is expected to be 40 times more efficient than Sandia’s Z machine, the world’s largest and most powerful pulsed-power accelerator, in generating pressures to study materials under extreme conditions. “Thor’s magnetic field will reach about one million […]
Sandia researcher elected physics fellow after ‘remarkable impact’ in pulsed power
November 18, 2015 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researcher Daniel Sinars has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) through its Division of Plasma Physics. The distinction is awarded to no more than one half of one percent of the society’s membership. Sinars’ citation reads, “For scientific contributions and leadership in the development of […]
Sandia physicist accepts first joint faculty appointment with Washington State University
September 3, 2015 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories physicist Marcus Knudson is the first joint faculty appointee to serve both Sandia and Washington State University (WSU). In the position, Knudson will enhance fundamental research into the compression of materials under extreme conditions, using Sandia’s unique Z machine. “The science of dynamic material compression is a core capability […]
Sandia’s Z machine receives funding aimed at fusion energy
June 29, 2015 – 10:20 am
Laser beam ‘smoothing’ with University of Rochester to play key role ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A two-year, $3.8 million award has been received by Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) to hasten the day of low-cost, high-yield fusion reactions for energy purposes. High-yield means much more energy emerging from […]
Pulsed-power physicist receives IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science award
May 5, 2015 – 1:30 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — William Stygar, manager of Sandia National Laboratories’ Advanced Accelerator Physics department, has been selected to receive the Erwin Marx Award by the Pulsed Power Science and Technology Committee of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society. The award’s previous recipients “are a who’s who of the leaders in pulsed power science and […]
Sandia recognized for sustainable greenhouse gas management
October 24, 2013 – 1:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded Sandia National Laboratories a Best in Class Sustainability Award for improvements in the labs’ Saturn and High Energy Radiation Megavolt Electron Source (HERMES) III pulsed power facilities. Sandia was recognized for reducing the use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) with an award in the Greenhouse Gas […]