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2024 Mykonos Facility Report published
Post, February 20, 2025 • The CY24 Mykonos pulsed power facility activity summary report has been published. Included are yearly shot statistics, facility highlights and improvements, and summaries of each individual campaign with their respective results. Document: 2024 Mykonos Facility Report (SAND2025-01377)
About
Page • What Is Mykonos? Diagnostic Capabilities Meet the Team
Archive
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CHICAGO simulates the Mykonos parallel plate platform’s free electron formation and transport
Post, March 3, 2025 • Simulation movie showing free electron density within the MITL A-K gap of Mykonos' parallel plate platform. The simulation was conducted by Dale Welch at Voss Scientific using the CHICAGO® Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code. 2D cylindrical coordinates are utilized with an approximated fragmentation ionization model. Particles are sourced from the desorption of...
Jens Schwarz
Staff Page • Manager, Advanced Capabilities for Pulsed Power. Biography Dr. Jens Schwarz joined the Laser Operations and Engineering Department at Sandia National Laboratories in August of 2003, after his graduate work focused on multi-photon ionization and ultra-short UV pulse propagation in air for the purpose of laser triggered lightning. This research earned...
Media
Page • News Photo Gallery Video Gallery
Meet the Team
Page • Jens Schwarz Manager, Advanced Capabilities for Pulsed Power jschwar@sandia.gov(505) 908-8058 Dr. Schwarz is the manager of the "Advanced Capabilities for Pulsed Power" department and the facility owner of the 1MA Mykonos pulsed power driver. Karen DeZetter Electromechanical Technologist kjdezet@sandia.gov Karen DeZetter is an electromechanical technologist with extensive experience maintaining R&D...
Mykonos
Page • Mykonos Pulsed Power Facility About Mykonos Mykonos is a five-cavity Linear Transformer Driver (LTD) at Sandia National Laboratories used in support of the Z-Machine and fundamental science research. The machine operates several times per day at 1 MA output current, 500 kV output voltage, with a 10-90% current rise time...
Mykonos Diagnostic Capabilities
Page • Electrical Diagnostics Standard machine diagnostics (machine current and voltage into vacuum chamber) Standard load B-dots (current into load region) Inductive voltage monitor (voltage into load region) Micro-B-dots (small field sensors for localized current measurements) Optical Diagnostics Four-frame pulsed laser imaging system (170 ps pulsed laser, 5 ns inter-pulse delay) at...
Mykonos Load Physics Research
Page • The Mykonos pulsed power system is at the forefront of advancing load physics research, with a focus on advancing the understanding and efficiency of pulsed power technologies through innovative experimental techniques and diagnostic capabilities. One of the key areas of exploration is the Auto-Magnetized (AutoMag) liner studies, which utilize specially...
Mykonos Power Flow Physics Research
Page • Power flow physics research focuses on understanding and improving the efficiency of pulsed power current delivery, which is critical for various applications at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), including stockpile stewardship, dynamic materials research, and fusion science. The TW-class Z machine is capable of delivering up to 20 MA of current...
News
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Photo Gallery
Page • Christine Loney (01683), left, and Tom Awe (01681) (01683) discuss the test plan for the day's Mykonos shot. Photo by Craig Fritz/Sandia National Laboratories Christine Loney, left, and Ian Kern (01683) backlight an experiment in the Mykonos accelerator load chamber while performing diagnostic alignment. Christine Loney (01683) installs load hardware...
Publications & Presentations
Page • Mason, Tyler J. et al., "Design and Preliminary Experimental Results on a Uniform-Field Test Fixture for Power Flow Experiments", IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, submitted, December 2024. Schwarz, Jens et al., "Mykonos: A pulsed power driver for science and innovation", High Energy Density Physics 53.101144 (2024), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hedp.2024.101144. Tummel, K. et al.,...
Recently developed interferometer allows for low density plasma measurements in MITLs
Post, February 10, 2025 • Diagnostic components in the Mykonos vacuum chamber. Shown here are the SHOP-DI focusing and collimating lenses (red), two load region B-dot probes (green), APD and SVS self-emission collection lens (blue), TCTI double pass lens and mirror (yellow), and miniXRD copper probe tips (purple). Understanding the physics leading to current loss...
Research
Page • Publications & Presentations Scientific Campaigns ZNetUS
Scientific Campaigns
Page • Diagnostic Development Electrical diagnostics Optical diagnostics X-ray diagnostics Load Physics Auto-Magnetized (AutoMag) liner studies Applied B-field on Mykonos (ABM) commissioning ElectroThermal Instability (ETI) research X-pinch radiography development for Z Power Flow Physics Electrode coatings In-situ plasma cleaning MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) computer modeling Particle-In-Cell (PIC) computer modeling Information for Principal Investigators Mykonos...
Second-Harmonic Orthogonally Polarized Dispersion Interferometer (SHOP-DI)
Page • Description A colinear dispersion interferometer is an optical device that analyzes the interference pattern ("interferometer") arising from two different wavelengths of light that each travel the same optical path ("colinear") through a material. The interference pattern occurs because light's propagation speed through material is dependent on the light's wavelength ("dispersion")....
Video Gallery
Page • Simulation movie showing free electron density within the Mykonos parallel plate platform. [more info]
What is Mykonos?
Page • Mykonos originated as an LTD tech. demonstrator that has now transformed into a research facility for science and innovation. Mykonos is a linear transformer driver (LTD) that delivers MA class current at 80 ns rise-time to a small target chamber in support of pulsed power and HED science [1]. Developed...
ZNetUS
Page • The goal of the ZNetUS Organization is to serve as the premier community-driven entity in the U.S. dedicated to advancing pulsed magnetic science, technology, and high energy density physics for energy and national security applications. It is the organizing body that provides a technical interface between pulsed power architects, target...