Fusion Devices
NIF (Livermore)
A laser fusion device fires laser beams into a centimeter-tall cylinder containing a deuterium-tritium target. The cylinder implodes, compressing the target and heating the deuterium-tritium fuel, which results in a fusion reaction. Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a laser fusion device.
Z Machine (Sandia)
A Z-pinch fusion device employs a Z pinch (zeta pinch), a type of plasma confinement system that uses an electric current to generate a magnetic field that compresses a plasma. The Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratories is a Z-pinch fusion device.
Wendelstein 7-X fusion reactor (Germany)
A stellarator confines a plasma using extremely strong electromagnets to generate twisting magnetic fields around the outside of a doughnut-shaped device (also called a torus). The Wendelstein 7-X in Germany is a stellarator.
ITER (France)
PLX Machine (Los Alamos)