Plutonium alpha phase metal samples are mirror finished 6mmx6mm squares 250 micrometers thick, sandwiched between platinum sample holders and transparent lithium-fluorite windows, and mounted in Z target copper panels. The target assemblies are made at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories have recently conducted plutonium experiments using Sandia's pulsed power Z Machine. "With Z we have very carefully reached pressure, temperature and density regimes that are relevant to those seen during a nuclear weapon detonation," said Russell Olson. New Mexico labs go where no one has gone before. LOS ALAMOS, N.M. April 7, 2016-Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories have recently conducted plutonium experiments using Sandia's pulsed power Z Machine that have reached regions of pressure, temperature and density in plutonium never before explored in the laboratory. "With Z we have very carefully reached pressure, temperature and density regimes that are relevant to those seen during a nuclear weapon detonation," said Russell Olson, a Dynamic Material Properties project leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Z is used to induce 'shockless' magnetic compression that allows us to put plutonium into conditions not available with any other driver. No one has ever made controlled measurements on plutonium under these conditions before, so the excitement level is very high." With tiny, thin disks of plutonium - eight to 12 millimeters in diameter and 1/10th to 1/2 of a millimeter thick - housed in a target assembly, scientists and engineers from Los Alamos and Sandia direct immense electrical energy onto the target with the Z Machine.
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