![Jens Schwarz aligns an optic on the Z Backlighter Laser Facility. Jens Schwarz aligns an optic on the Z Backlighter Laser Facility.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_jens-schwarz2.jpg)
![Lasers are used to align diagnostics and hardware prior to shooting on Z. Lasers are used to align diagnostics and hardware prior to shooting on Z.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_2-frame_green.jpg)
![Dolores Graham prepares a z-pinch wire array for loading on Z. Dolores Graham prepares a z-pinch wire array for loading on Z.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_pbfazpinch-array2.jpg)
![Marcus Knudson inspects a dynamic material properties load prior to shooting it on Z. Marcus Knudson inspects a dynamic material properties load prior to shooting it on Z.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_marcus-knudson-2a.jpg)
![Dan Sinars aligns a z-pinch diagnostic prior to installation in Z. Dan Sinars aligns a z-pinch diagnostic prior to installation in Z.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_z-crystal2.jpg)
![Facility provides access for the experimenter and operations crew. Facility provides access for the experimenter and operations crew.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130219190604im_/http://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/wp-content/gallery/nexgen-gallery/thumbs/thumbs_img_7003.jpg)
Z provides the fastest, most accurate, and cheapest method to determine how materials will react under high pressures and temperatures, characteristics that can then be expressed in formulas called “equations of state.”
The importance of Z in solving the world’s energy challenges is directly connected to its potential in the realm of fusion. Inertial confinement fusion for peaceful production of electricity is of interest to Sandia’s Pulsed Power Sciences.
In order to fuse the atoms, the force that repels them as they come together must be overcome. Accelerators accomplish this by forcing molecules to collide with one another at very high temperatures.
The detonation of nuclear weapons may affect equipment at great distances. This means electronic weapons systems & related equipment may malfunction when exposed, even at a distance, to radiation from an opponent’s weapons.
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